Every day we hear about the destruction that we, as a species, do to our planet. The pockets of wilderness that still exist on our planet are becoming smaller and smaller, and as they continue to shrink it can be easy to become increasingly cynical and hopeless about our chances of protecting it.
However, every now and again a set of images are produced that remind us of the intricate beauty of nature and that it is worth conserving. The U.S. Geological Society has recently released a set of images that do exactly that.
The pictures were originally taken to show the changes that happen to our planet over time, but when the team starting taking them, they adapted their motives. Rather than mapping changes, they simply took images that highlighted the complex beauty of Earth from the air.
The full list of images can be seen here. However, we picked our favourite four that show that our planet is worth fighting for.
Great Sandy Desert, Australia
The yellow of the dunes is a beautiful juxtaposition with the red that indicates forest fires that had scorched the grass and forest at the time the picture was taken.
The mix of colours in the rest of the image are different forms of geological formations.
Tanezrouft Basin, Algeria
Taken over a desolate area of the Sahara Desert, the striking colours of the sand dunes and sandstone formations are the only features in a landscape that don’t hold a drop of water. Continue reading