One Touch of Nature

And this, our life, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.

 William Shakespeare

Chris Hadfield Commander of ISS:
Good Morning, World, and Happy Earth Day from orbit! One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.

It reminds me a famous poem from Saadi :
Human beings are members of a whole,
In creation of one essence and soul.
If one member is afflicted with pain,
Other members uneasy will remain.
If you have no sympathy for human pain,
The name of human you cannot retain.

In proportion, our atmosphere is no thicker than the varnish on a globe. Deceptively fragile.   Chris Hadfield

And now a touch of our beautiful but fragile planet

Only one Earth

Earth Day is around the corner. April 22 is approaching fast. In this image from ISS 450 km above the earth surface, the cities glowing in a blue background. It also shows that cities grow at a rate that might be mistaken for a sky full of stars and galaxies( earth is up and sky is down).More crowded cities means more pollution and more need for a proper management.One study shows that nearest Earth-like planets could be 13 light-years away.Recent discovery which released April 18 2013 revealed that outside of our solar system in a land far far away, we may find three earth-like planets . But to reach one of it (Kepler 62e) you need to travel 1200 years in speed of light. It means with current technology we have to stick to our blue-green planet to survive.For how long we can exhaust the earth resources without thinking about this fact that it is only one planet called Earth?
The following video clip filmed last year but it is still true in most big cities.

Toronto and Garbage problem

Earth Day Earth Hour

Earth Day is an annual day on which events are held worldwide to demonstrate support for environmental protection. Earth Day is observed on April 22 each year. The April 22 date was designated as International Mother Earth Day by a consensus resolution adopted by the United Nations in 2009. Earth Day is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network, and is celebrated in more than 192 countries every year.

 To celebrate the Earth Hour and in an attempt to attract people attention to conserve energy International Space Station turned off its light on March 23 2013 and send this spectacular picture of stars to earth by its commander Chris Hadfield. Earth aurora (polar light) is visible under stars.