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October 13, 2022 | ISSUE 47 |
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PlanetScope • Sundarbans, India & Bangladesh • November 9, 2020 |
In this week’s issue: We take a peek at some of the world’s most incredible wonders, also known as UNESCO Heritage Sites; and fall turns leaves an incredible color in Maine. |
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FEATURED STORYWorld Wonders
What do Tequila and the Great Barrier Reef have in common? Visiting both might induce a mystical experience. But they’re also each a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Meaning they’re part of a list of cultural and natural locations across 167 nations considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. These include familiar favorites like the Great Wall of China and Machu Picchu, but also lesser-known wonders like Ethiopia’s single-stone churches and a 12th century Shinto shrine in Japan.
Humans have a tradition of cataloging our (and Earth’s) crowning achievements, with the notable example of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and its modern version. But we find 7 world wonders far too narrow for our planet-wide tastes. So on eve of the World Heritage Convention’s 50th anniversary, we decided to explore a small fraction of their list’s 1,000+ iconic entries from across the globe.
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PlanetScope • Los Glaciares National Park, Argentina • January 17, 2022 |
Without these 19 volcanic islands and a bearded-man named Charles Darwin, we wouldn’t have had the Theory of Evolution when we did. The Galápagos is a volcanic archipelago off the coast of Ecuador that serves as haven for wildlife like the land iguana and the giant tortoise. As far as cultural and natural heritage goes, the Galápagos might top the list. |
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PlanetScope • Galápagos Islands, Ecuador • November 21, 2021 |
Move a few thousand miles or kilometers into the Pacific Ocean and you’ll come across another volcanic chain of islands: Hawaii. Two active volcanoes, Mauna Loa and Kilauea (pictured), make up the core of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which was named a heritage site for its island building through volcanic processes. |
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SkySat • Kilauea, Hawaii, USA • December 21, 2020 |
While not quite as old as volcanoes themselves, the 9th century Angkor is ancient by human standards. This heritage site was the Khmer Empire’s capital city for hundreds of years and covers 400 sq km (150 sq mi). Pictured here is the iconic Angkor Wat, a temple made up of more than 1,000 buildings. |
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SkySat • Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia • June 27, 2021 |
In Vietnam’s Hạ Long Bay, over 1,600 islands and a ton of boats create a seascape not seen elsewhere in the world. Limestone pillars covered with thick jungle vegetation emerge from the ocean as a multitude of vessels meander through their maze-like arrangement. |
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PlanetScope • Hạ Long Bay, Vietnam • April 5, 2022 |
In popular culture it can feel as if the ancient Egyptians have a monopoly on pyramids. But they’re found all across the world. And the Mesoamericans built some of the most impressive ones to date. The pyramid-temple called El Castillo is seen towering over the ancient Mayan city of Chichén Itzá, now found in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. |
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SkySat • Chichén Itzá, Mexico • August 21, 2022 |
This fractal landscape belongs to Canada’s Dinosaur Provincial Park, which, unfortunately, isn’t a live-action Jurassic Park. But it does have dead ones. Paleontologists have recovered 44 different dinosaur species and over 150 complete skeletons from this stretch of the Canadian Badlands. |
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PlanetScope • Dinosaur Provincial Park, Canada • August 7, 2022 |
The Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System lies alongside the country’s coast and is the largest of its kind in the northern hemisphere. It has tons of marine wildlife, atolls, mangrove forests, sand cays, coastal lagoons, and a giant sinkhole that’s just a touch concerning to us. |
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PlanetScope • Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, Belize • October 31, 2021 |
The whole idea of UNESCO’s World Heritage List is to identify places we consider high value and then work to protect them. And that’s for good reason, because a slew of dangers threaten them: war, intentional destruction, natural disaster, and climate change, to name a few. At the moment, 52 of the sites are listed as “in danger,” including the wetlands of Everglades National Park that an incredible number of species call home. |
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PlanetScope • Everglades National Park, Florida, USA • October 8, 2022 |
It doesn’t bode well that 6 of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World were lost to human and environmental destruction (the exception being the Egyptian pyramids of Giza). Now, the endangered list is longer and the threats greater. But with a wing of the UN dedicated to preserving these cultural and natural treasures, we’re better prepared to handle what’s to come. |
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SkySat • Pyramids, Giza, Egypt • September 25, 2022 |
Bonus: A location must be of “outstanding universal value and meet at least one out of ten selection criteria” in order to make it on the UNESCO World Heritage List. To that end, your Snapshots editor submits the city of Las Vegas for consideration, which is both a masterpiece of human creative genius (criteria 1) and an outstanding example of building (criteria 4). Not only is it the city where dreams come true, but it’s already home to a number of Heritage Site replicas: the pyramids, Venice, the Colosseum, and the Statue of Liberty. Your move, UNESCO. |
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Caption: Las Vegas, Nevada, USA • March 17, 2020 |
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Change of the weekFall Colors
There are three assurances in life: death, taxes, and people making small talk about the weather. So if you need some fodder for your next water cooler or check-out line conversation, here’s the trees changing colors in northern Maine. |
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PlanetScope • Maine, USA • September 19 - October 6, 2022 |
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