Multimedia Gallery
February 23, 2015
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The power grid is a vast interconnected network, so one failure can have a cascading effect.
Without the electricity delivered over the power grid, commerce would grind to a halt, communication networks would fail, transportation would stop and cities would go dark. Shown here, the bright area at center left pinpoints Manhattan and Long Island. The yellow areas show regions where the city lights went dark after Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
Credit: NASASPoRT
Images credited to the National Science Foundation, a federal agency, are in the public domain. The images were created by employees of the United States Government as part of their official duties or prepared by contractors as "works for hire" for NSF. You may freely use NSF-credited images and, at your discretion, credit NSF with a "Courtesy: National Science Foundation" notation.
Additional information about general usage can be found in Conditions.
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