Global Examples

Night
The military objectives of the US Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program have created an aesthetic byproduct — a composite photo of the planet, taken during nighttime hours. More than 99% of these representations of actual light sources are indications of human activity on the planet. For example, this image includes more than a million man-made fires, most of them in the Third World, chiefly propagated for agricultural purposes. Population centers are easily identified; however, the amount of light represented here is not necessarily proportional to the population size. Imbalances arise due to unequal electrical consumption. Japanese consume 15 times as much electricity as Chinese per capita, and Americans consume 21/2 times more than Japanese do. This image also illustrates light pollution, a condition only astronomers have complained about so far.

A Satellites Blind Spots
The public service Landsat System has blind spots over territory and time. However, personal satellites can soon be purchased for about the price of a Mercedes, and space junk is increasingly hard to track.

Nuclear Explosions

More than 2000 nuclear bombs have been detonated worldwide since 1945. In 1963 the superpowers agreed to limit themselves to underground testing. By then the atomic radiation in Europe had increased to levels comparable to those caused by the Chernobyl accident

Forest Fires
In spring 1998 uncontrolled forest fires raged in the equatorial regions. Airplanes crashed in Indonesia, Smoke plumes reached across national borders into other countries and even continents. One day the loss of forest the size of Belgium in Brazil was reported. El Nino was generally blamed for the lack of rain.

“Bad Carma”
Traveling the roads of countries with a red cross is dangerous. The larger the cross, the higher the chance to continue any given trip in an ambulance and end up in a hospital or graveyard.

more globes than you can poke a stick at here:

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