Eerie beauty
The similarity between these two pieces of media is not surprising, but it is striking, nonetheless. One is a satellite composite image of the Earth at night that makes a good case for light pollution restrictions, while the other is a Java applet that geographically plots the US ZIP codes. Although it is obvious that the amount of light pollution will directly correlate to the density of the population (and hence to the density of the ZIP code distribution), it’s still fun to compare the two maps.
I found the distribution of the data to be most interesting in the sparsely populated areas in the west, where it roughly followed the interstate highway system. Contrast it to the densely populated east, where large-scale settlement predated the major interstates. It’s amazing, and sad, how millions of tons of concrete (billions, even) can dictate the direction of a society.
