Recent images have been captured of Earth from space and they’ve left people feeling heartbroken as they point out a worrying detail.
The pics were snapped by the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) which is operated by the United States' National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service division.
The satellite is used to support weather forecasting, severe storm tracking, and meteorology research and takes some pretty incredible shots of our planet.
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One image, which was captured at 1.50pm (UTC) on July 17, 2024, has been doing the rounds on social media, with many people commenting on how ‘beautiful’ the Earth is.
However, there is a sad detail that viewers of the photos couldn’t help but notice, with one person taking to Reddit to share their thoughts.
Uploading the images to the social media platform, the user said that the image ‘shows our vibrant blue marble in all its glory’ but pointed out that ‘it’s sad seeing the Amazon Rainforest disappear’.
Other users were also shocked to see the change in the region, with one person replying: “We are witnessing, in real f***ing time essentially, the disastrous consequences of our actions on our planet. Look at how much of the Amazon rainforest has disappeared compared to just 4 or 5 decades ago.
“See the increase in desertification in North America compared to just the start of this millenium. Just Google image search the shrinking of the polar ice caps....
“Why/how the f*** can we not take this more seriously as an intelligent species, which, quite literally, controls its own destiny? Why do so many people choose to just ignore the science, or feel like it isn't their problem?
“Politics and everything else aside, I fear very deeply for the next few generations and the world we will leave them, including the monumental problems they will have to solve due to our current ignorance, incompetence, and apathy at such widespread levels.”
Others shared in the sentiment, with one person adding: “Sad to see Brazil with too much lost vegetation,” prompting a reply from another who said: “My first thought -- Brazil is bald.”
A fourth person wrote: “Boy oh boy, that Amazon is nowhere near as big as it used to be.”
And a fifth user said: “Oh man, the planet is so beautiful. It looks really fragile however and is put into perspective how easily we can damage what we have.”