Thursday, July 12, 2007 | 7:29 a.m.
What: "Earth From Space"
Where: UNLV's Marjorie Barrick Museum
When: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday
Through: Aug. 26
Admission: Free; 895-3381
Perspective is priceless. There's nothing like a Smithsonian exhibit on remote sensoring to provide the "bigger picture."
Not only does "Earth From Space," on display at UNLV's Marjorie Barrick Museum, yield beautiful portraits of the Florida Everglades, Yemen sand dunes and the Himalayas, it reflects human configuration of our planet and its resources.
Tropical forests, city lights, vegetation and natural disasters seen through satellite images say so much about life on Earth - its temples, places of commerce, dwellings, travel routes and social activity.
Moreover, the exhibit's proximity to the museum's permanent collection of ancient Mayan artifacts triggers the logical question "How might we be explained 1,000 years from now?"
Place "Earth From Space" in glass cabinets alongside 21st-century artifacts and the story told on museum placards would play out something like this:
Globalization: Technology developed in the 20th century made global trade, business and cultural connections more accessible. Satellites provided images of cities across the globe. One could estimate populations and have a clear view of connections among countries and continents, including global concentrations of atmospheric dust. Here we see cities at night.
Satellites: Orbiting satellites were built by the technologically advanced in developed countries so humans could study themselves, their neighbors and their effect on the environment. Here we see Cuba, where native vegetation was cleared for sugar cane. Satellites were also used by military operations to observe different countries. Often, they enabled dominance by the more advanced cultures.
Deforestation: The removal of trees in the rainforests, commonly known as deforestation, left a giant thumbprint on the Amazon rain forest at the dawn of the 21st century. Deforestation had existed throughout human history, but the rate of slash-and-burn activity created atmospheric changes, killed habitat and damaged soil. These satellite images, taken in 1976 and 2001 , show the rate of deforestation during those years.
Cities: Urban areas centered on commerce, industry and social interaction. Roads were established for those who chose to live in outlying areas. Like nomads thousands of years before them, they left their homes to work: hunting, gathering, buying, trading, selling and typing. Images show city commerce and homes in stacked vertical buildings. Other cities or outlying areas offered patches of earth that were landscaped and sectioned off for use by city dwellers.
Disaster: Remote sensing allowed weather forecasting and observation of planetary changes and disasters. Although warnings could be provided via technology, the results often were deadly. With disasters, dwellers would pack their valuables and flee. Here we see how California wildfires encroached on urban areas. Across the country, massive flooding followed a hurricane. Because of class, economic and racial issues in that area, many were unable to leave. Homes were destroyed and many died.
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