r/dataisbeautiful • u/ramnamsatyahai • 2d ago
OC [OC] Night-time Light in Asia, 2014 vs 2024 Comparison (Updated)
Reposting with updated data , the 2012 composite used a different method and partial coverage, which made some regions (like Thailand) appear darker. This version uses average annual masked VIIRS data for a fairer 2014–2024 comparison.
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u/ramnamsatyahai 2d ago
Some people asked why Thailand looked dark in the 2012 map I shared earlier. That happened because:
- The 2012 composite used a different processing method (VCMCFG) and only covered part of the year.
- Thailand in particular had gaps in that dataset, which made it look like there were no lights.
- For this repost I’m using the average annual masked composites (2014 & 2024), which filter out ephemeral lights (fires, boats, etc.) and give a much more reliable view of stable night-time lights.
Source: Earth Observation Group — VIIRS Nighttime Lights Annual v2.2, https://eogdata.mines.edu/products/vnl/#annual_v22
Tools : Python, Geopandas
Code: https://github.com/databandar/NightlightAsia
Here’s also the Thailand-only map for closer detail.
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u/abae777 2d ago
Biggest change I’d say are China, India, and Iran.
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u/NaCl-more OC: 1 2d ago
Smallest change is Taiwan and Japan
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u/ConsiderationSame919 OC: 2 1d ago
How is nobody talking about Java, Indonesia? That island turned into the midnight sun!
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u/smolderinganakin OC: 1 1d ago
It's so incredible to think that more than half of all Indonesians just live on Java alone! So that explains the rapid development.
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u/poka_face 2d ago
Nah man, it’s got to be North Korea, from totally dark to a teeny tiny spot in pyeongyang?
Zero to something is (technically) an infinite increase.
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u/theKneeArrowTaker 2d ago
The mega urban area of Shanghai and surrounding towns/cities in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is crazy.
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u/uReallyShouldTrustMe 2d ago
I think this highlights something I noticed while living in Seoul that entire decade. There was an explosion of development in SEA, mainly indonesia, malaysia, thailand and vietnam. In 2014 , your only tourists were chinese. Now, you get all the above Mentioned countries in large quantities.
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u/Mid_Atlantic_Lad 2d ago
I'm sure many of us think of 2014 as not that long ago and in the "modern era" especially younger people, but this maps proves that the march of progress is never ceasing. Globalization was benefitting mostly already developed countries in the first two decades of the 21st century, but now all nations are seeing the benefits, and it's stark. I think many in the west don't understand just how much many of these countries have improved, not just the high profile ones like China.
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u/soulkraken 2d ago
One thing I'm curious about, what "causes" the different tones of light color in different areas, especially India compared to the rest of the map?
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u/ramnamsatyahai 2d ago
The different colors you're seeing are basically showing different light intensities, The colormap in above map goes from dark blue (low light) → purple → red → orange → yellow → white (brightest). India hits almost every color because it has such extreme variation in light intensity.
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u/preparedforheaven 2d ago
Each brighter light is one of the big cities of India, be it delhi, ahmedabad, mumbai, banglore, hydrabad...
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u/clearthinker46 1d ago
I flew to Beijing in the spring of 1994. Once we taxied off the the only visible lights were front a bicycle near the terminal. The terminal itself was about the size of a small regional airport.
We stayed in a new hotel, but steps away, almost every business was only lit by strings of Christmas lights.
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u/ltmikepowell 1d ago
Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City are getting brighter too. They were small dots in 2014, now it is much more visible.
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u/DisjointedHuntsville 1d ago
India is such a great story, in 2011 EXTREME poverty was over 16% and by 2022 it was down to 5% with further easing until today at a faster rate.
That’s 171 million people who were saved from a terrible fate.
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u/silver2006 1d ago
Yup, there is progress in Pyongyang, DPRK. These illimunated skyscrapers and new district tower blocks weren't just an AI/CGI/whatever computer generated.
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u/Against_All_Advice 1d ago
It saddens me how few people in the comments are noting the lost star light. I grew up seeing thousands of stars every night, I could even see the milky way, and now see hundreds of stars at best. Many people on Reddit seem to not even realise there should be stars in the night sky.
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u/Rin-Tohsaka-is-hot 1d ago
Sure, but that's no reason to stall human development.
Even if we somehow managed to light up every inch of Earth's land surface, there will always be the deep blue to offer such a sight.
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u/Cjprice9 1d ago
There doesn't need to be a compromise between human development and light pollution. The vast majority of light pollution comes from street lighting, and huge amounts of street lights aren't placed or designed with minimizing light pollution in mind.
A well-designed street light system should light only the street, with little to no light escaping upwards. Few are actually built that way. Look at Flagstaff, AZ, for an example of street lighting done right.
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u/Against_All_Advice 1d ago
Bright white LED lights does not equal human development. It's pollution.
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u/Rin-Tohsaka-is-hot 1d ago
Pollution is a symptom of development.
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u/Against_All_Advice 1d ago
Refer to my first comment. Pollution is more a symptom of people not having a sense of or a respect for what is being lost. It is absolutely unnecessary for LED lights, which can come in any colour and any range of frequencies to be brilliant blue white. A similar level of light visibility could be obtained using just three frequencies which would allow a large proportion of the starlight to be visible.
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u/MadMat99 1d ago
Overall it’s pointless to lit everything at night. In Europe more and more towns are reducing light during the late night, starting at different times.
Having a suburb lit up between 1am and 5am to guide 5 peoples, who will most probably be in a car anyway, is just a massive waste of energy and a damage to the nature nightlife.
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u/Against_All_Advice 1d ago
100%. There's some really interesting research into the topic coming out of Germany at the moment, they have even seen that reducing brightness at night leads to a drop in crime.
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u/EmergencyRace7158 1d ago
It's a really good proxy for economic growth - China, India and SE Asia have surged ahead of places like North Korea, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
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u/kevoofvi 1d ago
As a Vietnamese, I'm very surprised to see that bright spot on the coast east of HCMC. While Phan Thiet is located there (a big tourist spot), a lot of the land there is agricultural/solar & wind power generators, not rly stuff I'd associate with a lot of light at night
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u/Fransebas56 2d ago
Beautiful to see this GDP growth, making a reference to a paper that shows the correlation between light at night and GDP growth.
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u/Snarcotic 11h ago
Isn't the widespread adoption of more directional LED lights going to drop illumination levels compared to older tech such as halogens etc? If that happens, can we still continue to use lighting levels as a proxy for development? It will be interesting to see what the picture looks like in 2035.
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u/today_i_burned 2d ago
Dang this makes me sad for Bangladesh. It's the 8th most populous country and there are still only rare lights outside of Dhaka and Chittagong.
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u/mango_thief 1d ago
Why is Java so much more bright than the rest of the country? Does everyone in Indonesia live on that island?
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u/iantsai1974 2h ago
I think this graph is difficult to accurately reflect the changes in nighttime lighting in various countries.
For example, based on data from the China Statistical Yearbook 2024, the total electricity consumption of street lamps nationwide in China decreased from 377 TJ in 2019 to 259 TJ in 2023, which is due to the widely replacement of halogen lamps with LED ones, resulting in lower power consumption per lamp.
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u/Livewire3030 2d ago
Both Japan and s.korea look brighter in 2024. Both already heavily industrialised/developed nations. Sure there's been development throughout asia and middle east but this does seem too much of a difference for 10years. could it mostly be a combination of brighter or more efficient Street lights in use since 2014 i.e led instead of older types and perhaps season the imagery is taken i.e winter Vs summer
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u/ACatWithAThumb 1d ago edited 1d ago
South Korea still has immense infrastructure growth similar to China. While the economy is developed, large parts of the infrastructure and housing stock are not caught up to the level of the GDP and are being built from the ground up on large scale. While Japan already was at its economic peak in the 90s, Korea only became a democracy in 87. The entire country was basically built from the ground up starting 2000 after the IMF crisis ended. The Korean HSR network for example first opened in 2004. Basically everything built before 2000 is getting redeveloped.
Just the Seoul metro area built over 600k new housing units between 2021-2025. Cities like Sejong grew 100% in population since 2014. Hwaseong near Seoul also nearly doubled in population since then too, from around 580k to 1 million. Incheon grew from 2.6 to 3 million in that time frame as well.
And that‘s just the housing, infrastructure is growing at similar rates with new highways, rail lines, bridges, tunnels, new cities, ports, airports, factories etc.
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u/Against_All_Advice 1d ago
It's almost certainly those awful LED lights I'd say. Far broader spectrum light and much higher intensity.
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u/Mid_Atlantic_Lad 2d ago
That's crazy, even developed countries like Israel saw a considerable change. The only one that seems to be the same is Japan, which makes sense given they peaked in the 90s.
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u/BaronOfBeanDip 2d ago
I'd be curious to see these overlayed with a difference blend mode to visualise the change.
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u/Lostatoothinmydream 2d ago
Like an infection getting worse
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u/Fransebas56 2d ago
I think it is beautiful to see other people who have more reliable access to energy and btw we are making good progress with renewables (expected a response in that venue) ... except the US although it is making progress too.
One example of humans being responsible https://youtube.com/shorts/yGLy6r_VkAE?si=ScQ5KbcVca-soxyU
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u/ToonMasterRace 2d ago edited 2d ago
Very bad for combating climate change.
Edit: very odd Reddit doesn’t tink unsustainable population growth and industrialization is driving climate change
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u/Successful_Result487 2d ago
While we in Europe are (trying to) ‘going green’ the rest of the world is not.
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u/fucking_clown_ 2d ago
How dare they not live in dark only white people deserve light./s
P.S. Europe has produced more light pollution for decades: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5276/”
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u/smolderinganakin OC: 1 1d ago
Asian countries also have been investing heavily in greener sources of energy. Not all of these lights in Asia are powered by fossil fuels.
People in Asian countries have the fraction of the income and wealth of people in Western or Northern Europe. In many rural parts of Asia, people have waited decades to get streetlights. Is eonomic progress and prosperity is only to be reserved for the West?
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2d ago edited 2d ago
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u/fucking_clown_ 2d ago
it's good that people care about environment.
But you should know that Europe has ~3.1x higher per capita light pollution than Asia. Germany particularly has ~7.3x higher per capita light pollution than india.
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2d ago edited 2d ago
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u/M_Nuyens 1d ago
I'll get on Epstein/Trump Island they kept the lights off so nobody could see them raping girls.
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u/baodz 2d ago
So who’s gonna tell me what happened in kandyagash, Kazakhstan between these years, was it nuked?