A photographer buys a couple of cameras, builds a box to put them in, and ties a balloon to the box. He then lets it go. The simple idea of a regular guy produces some amazing photos of Earth from miles into the atmosphere. Would you even consider such an endeavor? Why hasn't someone thought of this before?
December 17, 2011
December 16, 2011
China Air-Quality Catastrophe
DEC 5 2011, 11:40 AM ET
Talk about Atmospheric Transparency!!Northern China has been writing about the recent sieges of off-the-scale air pollution, especially in Beijing. Much of the political and press controversy involves "PM 2.5" -- the fine-particulate pollution that is threatening to human health, that is closely monitored in the rest of the world, but for which the only known, publicly available data in China has come from an "unauthorized" measuring site on the roof of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. Its hourly readings are sent out via Twitter. Twitter feeds are blocked in China, and so are available only to those outside the country.
Above is a satellite photo of last month's smog epidemic, showing how enormous a swath of China was in fact blanketed. Flights were grounded over the weekend due to poor visibility, and air quality was determined to oscillate between 'very unhealthy' and 'hazardous' (the most extreme ranking).
Below is a newscast that was broadcast from China. Pollution and environmental exhaustion is a first-order challenge to China.
December 1, 2011
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