Posted on Oct 6, 2023
The bruising artillery battle in Ukraine has left a scar that is visible from space
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https://www.npr.org/2023/10/06/ [login to see] /the-bruising-artillery-battle-in-ukraine-has-left-a-scar-that-is-visible-from-sp
The war in Ukraine has gouged a scar in the landscape so vast, that it's easily visible from space.
A new analysis by NASA's Harvest program and shared exclusively with NPR shows that between 5.2 and 6.9 million acres (2.1-2.8 million hectares) of prime farmland have been abandoned as a result of the war since 2021. The abandoned fields represent between 6.5 and 8.5% of Ukraine's total cropland.
The losses represent "a massive amount of land," says Inbal Becker-Reshef, the program director for NASA Harvest and a research professor at the University of Maryland and the University of Strasbourg in France. Much of the fallow land lies in a vast swath along the front line of the war, while other fields are in areas recently retaken by Ukrainian forces, she says.
The scar left by the fighting is easily visible in satellite imagery from the commercial company Planet. Paradoxically, the untended farmland is still green because it has filled with weeds and other plants. Harvested plots mostly appear brown in the autumn.
The war in Ukraine has gouged a scar in the landscape so vast, that it's easily visible from space.
A new analysis by NASA's Harvest program and shared exclusively with NPR shows that between 5.2 and 6.9 million acres (2.1-2.8 million hectares) of prime farmland have been abandoned as a result of the war since 2021. The abandoned fields represent between 6.5 and 8.5% of Ukraine's total cropland.
The losses represent "a massive amount of land," says Inbal Becker-Reshef, the program director for NASA Harvest and a research professor at the University of Maryland and the University of Strasbourg in France. Much of the fallow land lies in a vast swath along the front line of the war, while other fields are in areas recently retaken by Ukrainian forces, she says.
The scar left by the fighting is easily visible in satellite imagery from the commercial company Planet. Paradoxically, the untended farmland is still green because it has filled with weeds and other plants. Harvested plots mostly appear brown in the autumn.
The bruising artillery battle in Ukraine has left a scar that is visible from space
Posted from npr.org
Russia
Ukraine
Farming
Agriculture
Posted 12 mo ago
Responses: 1
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Ukraine historically produces many tons of grains and other crops for all of Europe and the near east, this war has caused many price fluctuations due to their reduced output which IMHO is what Putin intended to take over in the first place.
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GySgt Charles O'Connell
Given the current advancements in satellite technology, isn't everything pretty much visible from space?
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