NASA

This image contains the Earth from Space, twice.

But first, an explanation: Here is what a decade of globalization did to the city of Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. The top picture, imaged by NASA satellites in 2000, shows a small, growing regional city. It has one harbor, a large major road, and no islands.

NASA satellites took the bottom image a decade later. It shows the rewards (and costs) of the city's catering to the international elite. Harbors and piers dot the coastline. Development has extended out, way past that first road. And the city's ludicrous tiny, artificial archipelago, meant to look like a map of the world from space (Mercator projection) sits tranquilly off the coast.

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