With such comparisons, the NASA scientists could determine exactly how urbanization is affecting our planet, our natural resources, and even our climate. By repeating the entire process for other countries, they could get an idea of what was happening all over the world. In the coming weeks in the Earth Observatory, we will be bringing you the results Imhoff and his team obtained by comparing his urbanization map of the United States with a map of the most fertile soils in the nation. We will follow this with an article on how urban sprawl may be contributing to the greenhouse effect in the Northern Hemisphere. Seeing the Light Urbanization map of the United States derived from city lights data.
Urban areas are colored red, while peri-urban areas are colored yellow.