Earth from House: Komodo Island, Indonesia

This Copernicus Sentinel-2 picture captures a cloud-free view over the island of Komodo in southeastern Indonesia.

Zoom in or click on on the circles to discover this picture at its full 10 m decision.

Komodo is a part of the Indonesian Lesser Sunda Islands and lies on the Sape Strait between the bigger islands (not pictured) of Flores to the east and Sumbawa to the west. The island is of volcanic origin and, as seen within the picture, its terrain is usually rugged, with sparse vegetation, that includes rounded hills that attain a most elevation of 825 m. The one village, Komodo, sits on the central bay on the east coast.

The turquoise color within the water alongside the coasts and across the surrounding islets reveal the presence of shallow waters and coral reefs. Komodo is in truth a part of the so-called Coral Triangle, one of many eight main coral reef zones on the earth, that comprises a few of the richest marine biodiversity on Earth. For that reason, the Coral Triangle can be known as the ‘Amazon of the seas’ and is taken into account a world precedence for conservation.

Komodo and the encircling islands are dwelling to a number of beautiful seashores, which may be seen within the picture as skinny, gentle strips scattered alongside the coasts. Few small segments even have a pinkish tint, ensuing from the purple coral fragments combined with the white sand. Probably the most well-known is the Pink Seaside, or Pantai Merah, on the easternmost tip of the central bay on Komodo’s east coast.

Komodo Island is a part of the Komodo Nationwide Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Web site since 1991. The park is devoted to defending the wealthy native biodiversity, together with the Komodo dragon, the world’s largest residing lizard, which is called after the island. This big lizard, which is discovered solely on Komodo and some neighbouring islands, grows to three m in size and may attain a weight of about 135 kg.

In 2021, the Worldwide Union for Conservation of Nature and Pure Sources (IUCN) placed the Komodo dragon on its red list of endangered species as a result of local weather fashions instructed that the lizard’s appropriate habitat could be decreased between 30 and 70 p.c by 2040 on account of will increase in sea stage.