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One regular dose of Earth from above
Istanbul Airport
41.262222°,28.727778° - Maxar
Construction of Istanbul Airport began in 2014 and took four years to complete. Most of its 19,000-acre (7,600-hectare) footprint was previously state-owned forest and some 658,000 trees were cleared to make way for its construction. The facility has an annual passenger capacity of 90 million people.
Senegal Salt Ponds
14.055530°,-16.764616° - Tom Hegen
Man-made salt ponds dot the Saloum River Delta in Senegal, West Africa. Solar evaporation turns the water into a salty brine and, due to variable algal concentrations, creates vivid colors ranging from pale green to bright orange. In summer months, the brines turn dense enough to crystallize and salt crystals sink to the bottom, where they can be scooped out.
Mozambique Coastline
-21.181823°,35.108976° - NASA / Google Timelapse
Mozambique's southern coastline has shifted over the years, affected by cyclones, flooding, and erosion. This section of shore, located just south of where the Save River empties into the Indian Ocean, is also shaped as sediment is discharged from the river.
Lake Urmia, Iran
37.700000°,45.366667° - Planet
Lake Urmia was once the sixth-largest saltwater lake on the planet with a surface area of 2,000 square miles (5,200 square km), but by 2017 had shrunk to 10% of its original size due to drought and damming of inflow rivers. Located in northwestern Iran, water levels rose once again in 2019 and continued in 2020 due to above average precipitation and the efforts of a restoration program.
Lop Nur Potash Ponds
40.417972°,90.795250° - Planet
The Lop Nur Potash Ponds are located in the Taklamakan Desert of northern China. Built and expanded over the last 20 years, the ponds occupy the basin of a dried up salt lake that once spanned 10,000 square kilometers (3,900 square miles) and left behind salt crusts as thick as 100 centimeters (39 inches). The variety of color seen here illustrates the stages of production—water is first dyed blue to absorb more sunlight and heat, and it gradually fades in color as it evaporates and potash crystallizes, ready for extraction.
Guangzhou
23.130000°,113.260000° - NASA
Guangzhou is one of China’s fastest growing cities, it’s population tripling from 5 million in 1980 to 18.6 million in 2020. The city has seen a huge influx of migrants in recent years, spurred by its fast-growing economy and high labor demands. Guangzhou is at the heart of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macau Greater Bay Area, the most-populous built-up metropolitan area in the world with approximately 65.5 million residents.
Jökulsarlón
64.075167°,-16.243444° - Maxar
Vatnajökull Glacier in Iceland has retreated rapidly in recent years. As the ice has melted, a lagoon known as Jökulsarlón has formed and grown. This area is now a popular tourist attraction, with large chunks of glacial ice melting before entering the Atlantic Ocean. Sixty years ago, when the glacier reached all the way to the shore, Jökulsárlón did not exist and since the 1970’s it has more than quadrupled in size.
Bone Valley
27.750790°,-81.864120° - NASA / Google Timelapse
The Bone Valley in central Florida contains some of the largest known deposits of phosphate in the United States. Mining has taken place here since the late 1800s, but in recent decades has expanded to cover more than 450,000 acres (182,000 hectares). Phosphate is used to create fertilizers and animal feed supplements, while phosphoric acid is an ingredient in food and beverage products, as well as metal treatment compounds.
Phoenix
33.300000°,-111.833333° - NASA
Phoenix, Arizona is one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States, gaining over 3 million residents between 1980 and 2020. Laid out along a regular grid of blocks and avenues, it was designed to sprawl outward, and it has doubled in size in 40 years. The Phoenix metro area spans 14,600 square miles (37,800 square kilometers), an area 1.25 times the size of Belgium. This Overview features the southeastern part of the city, including the communities of Gilbert, Mesa and Chandler.
Westmont Rooftop Solar Project
33.765342°,-118.286512° - Nearmap
The Westmont Rooftop Solar Project in San Pedro, California, comprises 2 million square feet of solar panels on the roof of a distribution center. The panels have a bifacial design, meaning they collect reflected light from the surface of the roof in addition to direct sunlight. This enables the panels to generate up to 45% more power than traditional rooftop solar panels and power 5,000 nearby homes.
Permian Basin
32.140680°,-103.538580° - NASA
Oil pump jacks checker the landscape of southeastern New Mexico and western Texas, a region known as the Permian Basin. This area contains one of the world’s thickest deposits of rock from the Permian geologic period and consequently is the largest petroleum-producing area in the United States. Increased drilling and pumping in recent decades has meant increased production—the Permian Basin accounted for roughly 43% of U.S. oil in 2022, up from 18% in 2013.
Ansan
37.375000°,126.685000° - Planet
Ansan has quickly become one of South Korea’s busiest industrial cities, fueled by its emphasis on manufacturing. Though it has only been a city since 1986, it now has more than 700,000 residents and upwards of 10,000 companies. Visit our Instagram @dailyoverview to watch a Timelapse showing Ansan’s expansion onto reclaimed land in the Yellow Sea and the construction of Sihwa Seawall, which contains the world's largest tidal power generator. In recent years, water inside the seawall has begun drying up and will likely decline with additional land reclamation.
Durrat Al Bahrain
25.840000°,50.600000° - Planet
Durrat Al-Bahrain is a collection of 15 artificial islands, built in the Persian Gulf off the southern coast of Bahrain. Construction of the 5-square-kilometer (2-square-mile) site began in 2004 and has cost more than $6 billion to date. Some of the islands still remain uninhabited.
Black Thunder Coal Mine
43.645061°,-105.282673° - Planet
The Black Thunder Coal Mine in Gillette, Wyoming, USA, opened in 1977 and has grown to become one of the largest coal mines in the world. Massive dragline excavators — the largest of which holds 160 cubic yards (120 cubic meters) in a single bucket — strip away the earth’s surface to extract coal deposits below. Now covering roughly 200 square miles (518 square kilometers), Black Thunder provides the US with 8% of its coal supply.
Las Vegas, Nevada
36.175000°,-115.136389° - Planet
Las Vegas has experienced more than 4x population growth over the last thirty years — from 700,000 to upwards of 3 million people today. This drastic increase has contributed to Nevada becoming one of the fastest-growing states in America and can be observed here as the city's streets and buildings sprawl into the surrounding desert.
San Diego-Tijuana
32.538862°,-117.058973° - Planet
San Diego-Tijuana has grown in recent decades to become the largest trans-border metropolitan area between the United States and Mexico. The population of the region, about 3 million in the mid-1980s, is now more than 5.3 million. Ports of entry have also expanded, allowing more than 50 million people to cross the border every year — the busiest land-border crossing in the world.
Lake Powell
36.936111°,-111.484167° - Planet
Water levels at Lake Powell reservoir have ebbed and flowed in the last few decades, but have declined overall. Located on the Colorado River in Utah and Arizona, it is the second largest artificial reservoir in the United States, able to hold 55 times as much water as Sydney Harbor in Australia. In April 2022, Lake Powell’s water level was at 3,522.24 feet (1,073.58 m) in elevation — just 22.88% of capacity and the lowest level since it was filled in 1963. Visit our Instagram @dailyoverview to watch a Timelapse video of the lake over the years.
Tagebau Hambach Mine
50.907783°,6.523415° - NASA / Google Timelapse
Tagebau Hambach is a surface coal mine in North Rhine–Westphalia, Germany. The mine opened in 1978 and currently covers 44 square kilometers (17 square miles). Here, bucket-wheel excavators – considered to be the largest land machines in the world at 315 feet (96 meters) tall and 730 feet (223 meters) long – continuously scoop materials from the surface in order to extract coal and will eventually expand the facility to cover 85 square kilometers (33 square miles).
Moab Potash Evaporation Ponds
38.485583°,-109.684611° - Planet
Vibrant evaporation ponds are seen at a potash mine in Moab, Utah. The facility produces muriate of potash, a potassium‐containing salt that is a major component in fertilizers. The salt is pumped to the surface from underground brines and dried in these massive solar ponds. As the water evaporates over a span of 300 days, the salts crystallize out. The variation of color occurs because the water is dyed a deep blue (darker water absorbs more sunlight and heat, thereby reducing the amount of time it takes for the water to evaporate) and over time, the blue fades as the water evaporates. Visit our Instagram @dailyoverview to watch a Timelapse of the ponds changing color.
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