Geography

How Coronavirus Emptied The World’s Streets

Aside Markosun Geography, Health

As millions of people around the world lock themselves indoors in order to prevent transmission of the dreaded coronavirus, the world outside looks eerily abandoned. The absence of humans and smoke belching vehicles is having a profound effect on the environment, not seen, perhaps, since the Industrial Age began. The atmosphere has become cleaner with significant drop in nitrogen dioxide pollution. The normally polluted waters of the canals of Venice have become so clear that one can see the bottom. In Sassari, the second-largest town of Sardinia, wild boars are roaming the streets, and in Rome’s many fountains ducks are taking advantage of the lack of tourists. Aside from these occasional visitors, public spaces across the world have become terribly devoid of life.

A scene from Wuhan, the epicenter of Covid-19.

Fontana di Trevi, Rome.

Prague.

Venice

Moscow underground.

 

Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin. Photo:

The Brandenburg Gate in berlin. Photo: nope_just_fish/Reddit

Poland. Photo: EPA-EFE / GREGORY Michałowska

Poland. Photo: EPA-EFE / GREGORY Michałowska

Moscow.

Times Square, New York

Piccadilly Circus, London, on 21 March 2020. Photo: fridericvs/Reddit

Brooklyn Bridge

Rome, Piazza di Spagna.

Quiet streets in the Lujiazui financial district in Pudong, Shanghai. Photo: REUTERS/Aly Song

The Eiffel Tower is closed for an indefinite time.

Pigeons thrives in the Plaza de Armas in La Paz, Bolivia. Photo: Aizar Raldes / AFP

Empty Fell street in San Francisco, 21 March 2020. Photo: brodil/Reddit

Marine Drive, one of the busiest streets of Mumbai is completely deserted on 22 March 2020, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 14-hour country-wide lockdown. Photo: silent_christ/Reddit

World’s Best Beaches

Aside Markosun Geography

From National Geographic.

Beaches are a great thing.  Sun, surf and bikinis.

Seychelles

Photograph by Sergio Pitamitz

North of Madagascar, off Africa’s east coast, are the 115 islands of the Seychelles. The Indian Ocean paradise hosts many sun-loving tourists who fuel its economic engines.

 

Cape Town, South Africa

Photograph by Steve Bloom/Getty Images

The seaside resort of Clifton, near Cape Town, hugs the western slope of Table Mountain.

 

Coronado Beach, California

Photograph by Sunny Awazuhara-Reed

Steady waves along San Diego Bay draw surfing enthusiasts and novices alike, as well as crowds of tan-seeking sunbathers.

 

Cumberland Island, Georgia

Photograph by Fred Whitehead/Photo Library

Shells speckle the water’s edge at Cumberland Island National Seashore in Georgia. The secluded barrier island gained fame after serving as the location of the secret wedding of John F. Kennedy, Jr., and Carolyn Bessette in 1996.

 

Fraser Island, Australia

Photograph by Andrew Watson/Photo Library

Clear waters lap the shores of Fraser Island—the world’s largest sand island—just off the coast of Queensland.

 

Kailua, Hawaii

Photograph by Macduff Everton/Getty Images

Coconut palms line the shore in Kailua, along Hawaii’s Kona Coast. The palms’ lanky trunks support the heavy fruits dangling from their branches.

 

Maya Bay, Thailand

Photograph by Paul Quayle/Getty Images/Axion RM

After being devastated by the 2004 tsunami, the Phi Phi archipelago off the coast of Thailand has been restored to its pristine, idyllic state.

James Bond Island from the movie The Man With The Golden Gun is near the above island.

 

Harbour Island, Bahamas

Photograph by Ian Cumming/Getty Images

Clean Atlantic waters and a warm current from the Gulf create an ideal environment for aquatic wildlife and adventure-seeking tourists in the Bahamas.

 

Ocracoke Island, North Carolina

Photograph by Terry Donnelly/Getty Images

Tufts of grass dot the shores of Ocracoke Island, site of an early European settlement and still home to descendants of the pirate Blackbeard. Ocracoke is part of the Outer Banks, a string of barrier islands that draws throngs of sunseekers.

                                                                                                                                                              

Markozen added this great beach to the list.

 

James Bond Island

Aside Markosun Geography, Movies

Khao Phing Kan or Ko Khao Phing Kan is an island in Thailand, in Phang Nga Bay northeast of Phuket. The islands are limestone karst towers and are a part of Ao Phang Nga National Park.

About 40 metres (130 ft) from the shores of Khao Phing Kan lies a 20-metre (66 ft) tall islet called Ko Ta Po or Ko Tapu. Since 1974, when they were featured in the James Bond movie The Man with the Golden Gun, Khao Phing Kan and Ko Ta Pu have been popularly called James Bond Island.

The Man with the Golden Gun is a 1974 spy film and the ninth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, and the second to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. A loose adaptation of Ian Fleming’s novel of the same name, the film has Bond sent after the Solex Agitator, a device that can harness the power of the sun, while facing the assassin Francisco Scaramanga, the “Man with the Golden Gun”. The action culminates in a duel between them that settles the fate of the Solex.

The production team chose Thailand as a primary location, following a suggestion of production designer Peter Murton after he saw pictures of the Phuket bay in a magazine.

Rubjerg Knude: The Lighthouse Buried in Sand

Aside Markosun Geography

Rubjerg Knude Lighthouse is an abandoned lighthouse located on the coast of the North Sea in Rubjerg, in northern Denmark. The light in Rubjerg Knude Lighthouse was lit for the first time the December, 27, 1900. The lighthouse was built on the coastal slope’s highest point 60 meters above sea level and a good 200 meters inland.

The lighthouse tower is 23 meters high, and when it was built there were no large dunes around it. But with time the sea moved in closer and the wind blew large amounts of sand up from the cliff. The sand piled up in front of and around the lighthouse, filled the well and ruined the kitchen gardens.

To suppress the sand pine grates were set in and lyme grass and helmet was planted in the dune, but the efforts went vain as the sand dune continued to grow. At last the sand was so high that at times it was impossible to see the light from the sea. On August 1, 1968 the struggle was given up and the lighthouse was lit for the last time.

Since then the lighthouse has become a popular visitor attraction on the Jutland coast. For a number of years, the buildings were used as a museum and coffee shop, but continually shifting sands caused them to be abandoned as well in 2002. It’s predicted that the lighthouse will fall into the sea in 15 to 20 years time.

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Eerie Abandoned Places From Around The World

Aside Markosun Geography

 

Island Home, Finland

abandon

 

Methodist Church, Gary, Indiana

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Soviet naval testing station in Makhachkala, Russia

abandon2

 

Church steeple in the middle of a frozen lake, Reschen, Italy

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Lake Reschen is an artificial reservoir. When it was built, it submerged many villages, including a 14th century church.

 

Victorian-style tree house, Florida, USA

abandon4

 

An abandoned hallway, France.

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Spreepark, Berlin, Germany

abandon6

 

Poveglia Island, Italy

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This island was used by Napoleon Bonaparte to isolate those with the plague from those who were healthy. It was later used as an asylum for those struggling from extreme mental health issues.

 

Abandoned bumper cars, Chernobyl, Ukraine

abandon8

 

Overgrown palace, Poland

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An abandoned house in the forest. Location unknown.

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Abandoned Movie theater in Detroit, Michigan

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Church in St. Etienne, France

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Update: after doing some research I discovered the above church is a composite photograph. I was curious as to why a small stream went through a church.

 

Shipwrecks on a sandbar in the Bermuda Triangle

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Staircase to nowhere, Pismo Beach, California

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Initially there was a supported catwalk to the top of the staircase that allowed people to get to the beach.

Kangaroo Island Road

Aside Markosun Geography

 

Kangaroo Island, also known as Karta (“island of the dead”), is Australia’s third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia 112 km (70 mi) southwest of Adelaide. Its closest point to the mainland is Snapper Point in Backstairs Passage, which is 13.5 km (8.4 mi) from the Fleurieu Peninsula.

The island and road was affected this year by the devastating bush fires.