NASA Just Confirmed That The Largest Structure Visible From Space Isn't Actually The Great Wall Of China
NASA Just Confirmed That The Largest Structure Visible From Space Isn't Actually The Great Wall Of China
From the first time humans gazed upon the night sky, people have wondered what might linger in the heavens. On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite in human history, initiating the space race between the Soviet Union and the United States.
Soon after, Yuri Gagarin became the first human being to leave the confines of Earth, orbiting Earth in just 108 minutes on April 12, 1961. Gagarin and the astronauts who came after him have all had the unique opportunity to look down on Earth, its stunning natural features, and some of the grandest structures created by man.
For many years, experts believed that the magnificent Great Wall of China in Asia was the largest visible structure from space, whose oldest section was only recently discovered. However, a new NASA study confirmed that the largest visible structure was in Europe, in Almería, southeastern Spain.
The Largest Structure Visible From Space Is In Spain
Experts have long attributed the Great Wall of China, a magnificent collection of ancient walls spanning over 13,000 miles through northern China, to be the largest man-made structure visible from outer space. However, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) recently replaced the Great Wall of China with a massive swatch of greenhouses in Southern Spain as the largest visible man-made structure from space.
Located southeast of Granada in the Almeria province of Spain, surrounding the town of El Ejido, are nearly 100,000 acres or 156 square miles of greenhouses. These greenhouses take advantage of the sunny climate of Southern Spain to grow a myriad of produce and other fauna. For reference, the entire island of Manhattan only measures roughly 23 square miles, meaning that this collection of greenhouses is nearly the size of seven Manhattans.
This swath of greenhouses is so massive and abundant that many call them the "greenhouses of Europe." NASA's Earth Observatory noted the importance of these greenhouses:
"The province of Almería in southeastern Spain has some of the driest conditions in Europe. Yet with access to groundwater and an abundance of sun, it has become a major hub of greenhouse agriculture," - NASA Earth Observatory
The NASA Earth Observatory then notes the jaw-dropping yields of these greenhouses, noting that,
"By some estimates, Almería’s greenhouses now produce between 2.5 million and 3.5 million tons of fruits and vegetables per year, enough to make them a major source of off-season tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and melons for people all over Europe."
From space, these greenhouses look like a massive white blob amid the arid landscape of southern Spain, which has long struggled to produce agriculture, aside from grapes, which the Spanish have long used to make wine.
The Almeria Greenhouses Are Agriculture's Future
The development of agriculture marked the most significant advancement in human history, allowing people to develop advanced city-states and ultimately sprawling empires. Agriculture also initiated some of the earliest known trade between people groups, with various groups bartering precious metals and other commodities to secure food they could not produce in their territories. No longer did people have to hunt wild game and gather berries and other plants to survive; instead, people could farm crops such as grain, which could be stored in centralized warehouses in secure-walled cities, such as the far-flung ancient city of Ani in Turkey, where archaeologists have made some amazing recent discoveries.
Life expectancy also skyrocketed following the development of agriculture, which most historians believe happened around the year 10,000 B.C., directly correlating with the end of the ice age. Even today, most civilizations still rely heavily upon agriculture, which has advanced significantly over the last century. Large farms that use highly advanced machines to sow and pick crops cover the landscapes of many nations, such as the Alemria Greenhouses in Spain. These sprawling greenhouses, so large that NASA can easily observe from space, allow people to control the moisture and temperature of the crops grown inside. This method also mitigates pestulence, which has plagued crops since the dawn of agriculture.
Greenhouses such as the ones in Almeria, Spain, have resulted in much higher food supplies, reducing the price of produce for millions of people and the risk of famine. As NASA notes, these Spanish greenhouses alone produce millions of tons of fruits and vegetables while also allowing consumers to purchase and consume produce when it is out of season. Experts believe that the greenhouses in Almeria, Spain, represent the future of agriculture and could help to feed billions of people who live in parts of the world with poor soil conditions. As a result, these greenhouses could help prevent the likelihood of famine for these people while also increasing the variety of crops they can grow, thereby increasing life expectancy worldwide.
Nations Look To Spain To Solve Their Food Problems
The greenhouses in the Campo de Dalías coastal plain in Almería, southeastern Spain, represent some of the most significant advances in food production in human history. They allow farmers to grow various crops in a place where people have struggled to grow food for centuries. After all, food production has long defined the success of various civilizations, with even the strongest nations succumbing to famine. Nations worldwide are looking to Spain, which has one of the world's most advanced and sophisticated food agricultural systems.
