I was unable to post here earlier this week on Earth Day. That left me with the opportunity to post some aerial photographs made on the way back to Vermont.
The changes this planet has seen before humans and will, no doubt, see again after humans are gone are immense.
Water, wind and gravity all work to shape the landscape, here somewhere over Nevada.
The imprints of erosion remain long after the water is gone, in eastern California or Nevada.
Earth-shaping forces at work every day that are beyond my imagining
Late Spring snow drifted, somewhere over eastern Colorado
Past flooding along the meander of the Ohio River, now merged with farm fields.
And yet, clearly, the ones we’ve caused will be here long after we are gone working in ways that are too often not healthy for the life of the Planet. The irony that I made all these photos from the window of an airplane is not lost on me.
A particularly dense part of the urban landscape in the Bay Area.
Across the middle of the country we’ve tapped the aquifer to irrigate crops that probably are best not grown.
Another option, contour plowing in Iowa, of land where the tall prairies once grew more than ten feet high.
Another view of the Ohio River, shaped by flooding and farms, all too often working together in ways that are not good for the Planet.
This is the view over much of West Virginia, known as “mountain top removal,” a way to get at the layer of coal below the surface.
Solar options like this concentrating solar boiler, somewhere on the California/Nevada border, may be seen by some as an answer. I’m not sure, especially given the power may end up lighting Vegas or powering Google cloud.
I don’t have the answers, if they even exist, but Earth Day is a time to both remind ourselves of the delicate balance of life and marvel at the reality of it all.
Still Learning To See 
From far away it looks so right. Only those who live nearby or affected by the changes know . Thanks for the view from your window. It must have been a nice flight.
Thanks. It seems, however, that so often we all live “nearby” and are affected.
I appreciate your sense of Irony about being in a plane–but, then, without flying in space we’d never have seen the picture of our incredible “blue marble”. The sight that hurt me was the one of the West Virginia mountains. I was born in that state, which could have been so very beautiful. Thanks for sharing, and welcome home!
Thanks. Yes, the perspective from above can have great value. As for West Virginia, a quick look at references to “mountain top removal” show the same scenes from the ground—so horribly destructive.
Very nice series – I have a real thing for window seats and feel blessed whenever I have the opportunity to see the earth from such tremendous heights – thanks!