Photos Taken from Space to Make You Realize Just How Tiny We Are

Aerial of Sun Lakes, AZ

Sun Lakes, Arizona, USA is a planned community with a population of approximately 14,000 residents, most of whom are senior citizens. According to US census data, only 0.1 percent of the community's 6,683 households are home to children under the age of 18.

Every year, tulip fields in Lisse, in the Netherlands, begin to bloom in March and are in peak bloom by late April. The Dutch produce a total of 4.3 billion tulip bulbs each year, of which 2.3 billion are grown into cut flowers. Of these, 1.3 billion are sold in the Netherlands and the remainder is exported: 630 million bulbs to Europe and 370 million elsewhere.

This Overview captures the Gemasolar Thermosolar plant in Seville, Spain. The solar concentrator contains 2,650 heliostat mirrors that focus the sun’s thermal energy to heat molten salt flowing through a 140-metre (460-foot) central tower. The molten salt then circulates from the tower to a storage tank, where it is used to produce steam and generate electricity. In total, the facility displaces approximately 30,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year.

The Arlit uranium mine is located in Arlit, Niger. French nuclear power generation, as well as the French nuclear weapons programme, are both dependent on the uranium that is extracted from this mine in the former French colony – more than 3,400 tonnes per year.

Angkor Wat, a temple complex in Cambodia, is the largest religious monument in the world (first it was Hindu, then Buddhist). Constructed in the twelfth century, the 820,000 square metre (8.8 million square foot) site features a moat and forest that surround a massive temple at its centre.

The villas of Marabe Al Dhafra in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates are home to approximately 2,000 people. Located in one of the hottest regions of the world, the record high temperature here is 49.2°C.

Ipanema Beach is located in the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Recognised as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, the sand is divided into segments by lifeguard towers known as ‘postos’.

The coal terminal at the Port of Qinhuangdao in China is the largest coal shipping facility in the country. From here, approximately 210 million tonnes of coal are transported to coal-burning power plants throughout southern China every year. In 2015, new data from the Chinese government revealed that the country has been burning up to 17 percent more coal each year than previously disclosed. The sharp upward revision in official figures means that China has released almost a billion more tonnes per year of carbon dioxide than previously estimated.

Hagadera, seen here on the right, is the largest section of the Dadaab refugee camp in northern Kenya and is home to 100,000 refugees. To cope with the growing number of displaced Somalis arriving at Dadaab, the UN has begun moving people into a new area called the LFO extension, seen on the left. Dadaab is the largest refugee camp in the world with an estimated total population of 400,000.

Burning Man is a week-long, annual event held in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, USA. Drawing more than 65,000 participants each year, the event is described as an experiment in community, art, self-expression, and radical self-reliance. This image was taken during the event, in August 2014 …

… And this was taken at the same spot in the desert once Burning Man had ended, in October 2014.

A turbine interchange connects two highways in Jacksonville, Florida. This structure consists of left-turning ramps sweeping around a centre interchange, thereby creating a spiral pattern of right-hand traffic.

Tailings are the waste and by-products generated by mining operations. The tailings seen here were pumped into the Gribbens Basin, next to the Empire and Tilden iron ore mines in Michigan, USA. Once the materials are pumped into the pond, they’re mixed with water to create a sloppy form of mud known as slurry. For a sense of scale, this Overview shows approximately 2.5 square kilometres (1 square mile) of the basin.

Dendritic drainage systems are seen around the Shadegan Lagoon by Musa Bay in Iran. The word ‘dendritic’ refers to the pools’ resemblance to the branches of a tree, and this pattern develops when streams move across relatively flat and uniform rocks, or over a surface that resists erosion.

Nishinoshima is a volcanic island located 940 kilometres south of Tokyo, Japan. Starting in November 2013, the volcano began to erupt and continued to do so until August 2015. Over the course of the eruption, the area of the island grew in size from 0.06 square kilometres to 2.3 square kilometres.