ORBITAL PERSPECTIVES: SHARING VIEWS FROM SPACE TO SHOW DYNAMIC, INTERLINKED WORKINGS OF EARTH SYSTEMS AND HUMAN IMPACTS ON SURFACE ENVIRONMENTS

Astronaut photography and satellite imagery provide orbital perspectives of Earth from space. These perspectives expand our understanding of large-scale surface processes, Earth system interactions, short-term environmental changes and myriad, dramatic impacts of human activities. Image sets of such perspectives, available online as NASA Earth Observatory (EO) archives (https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/), allow us ways to view Earth from different viewpoints and scales. These awe-inspiring views generate a greater awareness of Earth's near-surface interconnections and fragility and instill deeper caring and concern for our planet. Ultimately, EO’s image archives are useful as resources for educational outreach purposes.

To showcase these image archives, I’ve created two presentations for the purpose of educational outreach, as ways to share facets of geoscience to diverse audiences. The first talk focuses on 1) using astronaut photography and its 50+-year history to understand the sense of awe such photos induce, 2) observing, via select photos, Earth’s dynamic, interlinked systems and human impacts on its surface, and 3) highlighting the continued legacy and impact of NASA’s photo-archive on inspiring stewardship participation and activities. The second talk focuses on 1) using time-lapse satellite imagery to introduce the Anthropocene Great Acceleration and show rapid, pervasive transformations of Earth’s surface by human activities, 2) bridging gaps between scientific, cultural and societal perspectives of the Anthropocene, and 3) highlighting actions to mitigate anthropogenic alterations to Earth environments and systems. Both presentations, otherwise steeped in geoscience, are interesting, timely, relevant calls to action with connections across multiple disciplines.

To share these presentations in both formal and informal settings, I’ve given them many times to diverse audiences and various groups across the geoscience and environmental education communities in the local area. My next step is to broaden this audience by making presentation content available online or via another appropriate platform. This approach, although more focused in nature and scope, is thematically akin to EO’s World of Change collection and USGS’s Earthshots and Benjamin Grant’s Overview posts.