Saturday 18 August 2007

Hurricane Dean

Part of the first ever "family portrait" of the solar system taken by Voyager 1 in 1990, this image of Earth was captured from a distance of more than 4 billion miles. Pictured here as a dot only 0.12 pixels in size, the Earth is, as described by Voyager contributor Carl Sagan, "...a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly and compassionately with one another and to preserve and cherish this pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known."
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/top10_views_of_earth-1.html


These pictures are part of the series of the top ten photos taken from outer space. I'm taking a slightly different slant tonight as Hurricane Dean bears down on our Caribbean neighbours. As I type this, it is roaring towards Jamaica. I can't help but think of all the people that will lose homes, security and everything familiar. But I also think of the trees that will be uprooted, the animals lost and the carefully tended gardens destroyed.
This picture is an earthrise taken from the moon. It really is a pretty small planet.
My point is that we are all sharing the same space. And while we can't stop the course of Mother Nature, we can all play a part in reducing global warming.


As I go to bed tonight, I will be thinking of all our Caricom neighbours who are not fortunate enough to live below 10 degrees north.


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