space at night, North Korea looks like the recently released first image of a black hole: an abyss, ringed by the brilliant glow of South Korea, China and Russia, from which nothing can escape. But the Hermit Kingdom does emit a bit of light, which orbiting satellites detect. And nocturnal luminosity is one of the few reliable sources of information about the country. It implies that North Korea’s economy is poorer, more volatile and more vulnerable to weather than formerly thought.
International sanctions are unlikely to have produced this darkening. They were made stricter in 2016-17, just as luminosity rose. A drop in the prices of North Korean exports, like coal, may have played a part. The economy may not have shrunk as much as the dimming suggests. Recessions caused by power cuts could disproportionately reduce lighting. Many North Koreans own solar panels, which power daytime activity not shown in night lights. And state buildings, whose illumination is a political choice, make up much of the capital’s glow. As with physics inside a black hole, no one knows what economic laws apply within North Korea’s eerie silhouette.
It's bloomin dark at night over there at night...😲🙄 I guess the stars will look great!
RepLowenthal It looks like KimJongUn & Pyongyang got your message about global warming and took appropriate measures to reduce their carbon footprint, NOT!
That single light must be Kim’s house.