new exhibition along Orchard Road... very VERY nice pics..
Yann-Athus Bertrand - Witness Photographer..
N 4° 16 E 73° 28
Maldives. North Male Atoll. The Eye of the
Maldives.
The Eye of the Maldives is a faro, a ring-shaped reef surrounding a
lagoon. Without a submerged volcano beneath its lagoon, a faro is
not a true atoll, but instead forms part of the rim of a barrier
reef or a larger atoll. Since the formation of coral requires high
water temperatures of about 20°C (70°F), atolls form in tropical
regions. The Maldives Archipelago in the middle of the Indian Ocean
consists of 26 large atolls comprising more than 1,200 islands or
islets, 420 of which are inhabited either permanently or in the
tourist season. With the highest point no more than 2.5 meters (8
feet) above sea level, the Maldives Archipelago is the lowest
country in the world, and has suffered the devastating effects of
several tidal waves. The Maldives will be the first to go if (or
when) sea level rises.
N 44° 26 W 110° 39
United States. Wyoming. Yellowstone National
Park.
Grand Prismatic Spring.
Located high on a volcanic plateau that straddles the states of
Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, Yellowstone is the oldest national
park in the world, created in 1872. It has an area of 9,000 square
kilometers (3,500 square miles) and contains the greatest
concentration of geothermal sites in the world, with more than
3,000 geysers, fumaroles, and hot springs. Grand Prismatic Spring
is the parks largest thermal pool - 112 meters (367 feet) across -
and the third largest in the world. The range of colours that give
the pool its name comes from different varieties of algae. The pool
supports certain types of micro-organisms at the centre where it is
hottest and different varieties toward the edges where it is
cooler. Made an International Biosphere Reserve in 1976 and a
UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, Yellowstone receives 3 million
visitors each year. The five most visited natural sites in the
world are all in the United States and Canada. North America as a
whole receives more than 100 million tourists per year. or more
than one-fifth of the world total.
