The photograph I chose was "The Genbaku dome (epicenter of the 1945 atom bomb explosion), Hiroshima, Honshu, Japan" by Yann Arthus-Bertrand for his Earth from Above photojournalism project. The photograph was taken in Hiroshima, Japan. The latitude and longitude coordinates and elevation of the photograph's location is 34 degrees N latitude, 132 degrees E longitude, with an elevation of 14 ft. In this picture, one sees the ruins of a large building that only has a few walls and the frame remaining. However, surrounding it are pedestrians and streets, with freshly-mowed grass and trees surrounding it. One tree that is directly against the building, however, remains leafless and dead.
The picture itself demonstrates the effect that human warfare has on the environment. This building was at the epicenter of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, a moment when millions of people (including innocent civilians) were killed in order to end or escalate the Second World War. It is a shameful and horrifying part of American history - that the threat of mutually assured destruction had to be created in order to stop the fighting, and it took the devastation of an entire city and its environment to do that. The razing of millions of people and wildlife, as well as flora, shows the impact of our own aggression on the environment. That single dead tree resting against the building is indicative of just how much death we brought onto the environment that day. The building still stands, and the picture is a monument to just how bad things got for us that we would do that to an entire city. The bystanders and pedestrians see the monument for what it is, and people are using the land and territory for a sociocultural purpose - providing a landmark for our history.
In the caption for the picture on Google Earth, the source for the text above it appears to be sound. Above the picture, it states, "During the 20th century, 109.7 million people died as a result of armed conflict, compared to 19.4 million people during the 19th century." Those statistics come from the Human Development Report 2007-2008 in the link under the caption - this is a reputable source published for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which measures the status of social, economic, and political development for mankind worldwide. As for the author, Yann Arthus-Bertrand, I also trust his journalistic integrity. He has had a nearly 30-year career in photojournalism, traveling internationally and founding many different agencies to further the cause of exploring man's effect on the Earth (including Earth from Above). Because of this commitment of journalistic integrity, and the fact that his statements are consistent with claims made by other agencies including the UNDP, I am inclined to trust him as a reputable source. While the UNDP might theoretically have a vested interest in overestimating our warlike nature to work towards its agenda, and Arthus-Bertrand could have his own agenda of furthering peace and humanitarianism, they arguably do not tarnish the objectivity of the facts in this case.
Works Cited
Arthus-Bertrand, Yann. "The Genbaku dome (epicenter of the 1945 atom bomb explosion),
Hiroshima, Honshu, Japan." Earth from Above Project.
Maldonado, C. & J. Gasarian. "SECTEUR INFORMEL: FONCTIONS MACRO-
ECONOMIQUES ET POLITIQUES GOUVERNEMENTALES: LE CAS DU NIGER."
Document de recherche S-INF-1-20. Département du développement des entreprises et
des coopératives, Organisation internationale du Travail -- OIT, 1998. Print.
