io9
This is what a mass evacuation from a city looks like from space. Using satellites orbiting over Africa, human rights groups published UNOSAT satellite imagery to show, in very simple terms, the human cost of violence in the Chadian capital city of N'Djamena. Over 10,000 people are crammed on a bridge, trying to escape into the neighboring nation of Cameroon. The black dots are people, and the yellow dashes are vehicles, most likely trucks and buses. It's a chilling portrait of the human future, wracked with violence and recorded via space-based surveillance devices, taken on February 27. See the full map below.
This is a story that requires few words to tell. 
Here's a larger map of the region. 
UN Satellites Photograph Human Exodus [War and Health]
Comments
At first glance, I thought it a microscopic photo of some bacteria.
I thought it was bacteria, too. Then I realized what it was & I was appalled. I pray for the people of that region. Also, I am reminded of the incident in World War Z where satellite imagery reveals masses of zombies swarming like buffalo across the USA (sorry I just read the book & it's fresh in my mind).
How is it a "chilling portrait of the human future"? Unless you expect civil wars to break out all over the place. It's really just a high-tech snapshot of the shit humans have done to one another throughout history (and will continue to do in places wherever stupid tribalism is still held in high regard.)
@Ravac
I'd expect an attitude like that from one of you people ...
@Ravac
So your tribe is not tribalist at all and can look down on the tribalist tribes? - ok, a little flamy but I had to say it.
@Ravac:
The future may be closer to that picture than you think. Dwindling resources combined with unrestrained population growth results in a great deal of instability. It's a classic case of the haves/have-nots and there's no guarantee that, in the future, the US will be among the haves. We don't make anything in this country any longer except weapons and there will come a day when debts will be called in. I shudder to think what would happen to the thin veneer of civility in this country when we are no longer able to be sedated by consumer goods because we can no longer afford them. What will happen when the Joneses can no longer afford to fill up the tank on their Escalade?
@Ravac: I'm assuming you mean tribalism very generally, in a way that also covers religious and political beliefs, and really any divisions among people that come about in competitions over power, land, resources, etc.
Since, you know, Ireland, Britain, & Scotland have a nice long history of religious civil wars.
And America's bloodiest war continues to be The Civil War.
On the one hand, I agree that it's true that the violence of the world hasn't changed, only our ability to know about it.
On the other, if we believe that the world's resources will diminish more quickly than our ability to adapt then one would expect to see more of this, not less.
@Ravac: Agreed; this is hardly a portrait of the future, as panicked evacuations through choke-points are as old as warfare, plague, and natural disasters. The only new thing here is that now we can watch it from space.
Okay, where is the satellite shot of the giant tentacle smashing and the destroying the bridge?
Damn gumment conspiracies!
not sure why this is a 'dystopia' considering how frequent people leaving their homes in mad dash during war times.
Plus this is Africa. Can anyone really be shocked?
Sadly, as others have pointed out, this is not a picture of the future. It is a picture of right now and these people and others like them around the world need our help and our prayers.
@causeiambetta
Not shocked, but appalled I'd say. Even if you know the world is such a hard place, making the image a little more clear can -and should- make you shudder.
I would suggest they most assuredly do not need our prayers. A few dozen Chinook helicopters, maybe, but I don't think prayers would have helped the people on that bridge.
@Citizen Kang: I expect this country will do what they've always done - elect a government that promises the best bread and circuses. Look no further than the 'economic stimulus' package that was recently signed. "Free money" for everybody! And if we need to go to war to keep our cushy lifestyles, so be it. Sorry Kang, but my view is even bleaker than yours - The US will drag the entire world down to ensure we remain on top.
And that is some of the "stupid tribalism" I was referring to SavannaJack and DarkElf.
@92BuickLeSabre: Exactly what I mean by tribalism. Any belief that one group is 'better' than another and can therefore be denied the privileges the first group so obviously merits.
@Ravac
Duh.
@causeiambetta: Yes, we can.
For my money this is the best post on io9 so far. Twenty minutes after I first saw it, it still feels like a punch in the chest.
not for nothing but you could take that photo anywhere - sometimes it's rush hour, sometimes a concert parking lot...
@yatima: right on.
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