Zaatari Refugee Camp, Jordan
These 2 images from the ASTER instrument on NASA’s Terra satellite show a location in the nation of Jordan, with the upper one taken in 2009 and the lower one taken in 2013
In-between, a large, white area has appeared. This area is a refugee camp, home to over 100,000 refugees from the fighting in Syria. It opened in July of 2012 and swelled to this size in only 1 year. The camp appears white because of the color of the structures and tents in the area.
The UN High Commissioner on Refugees states that this camp would be the equivalent of building a city the size of Cambridge, England or Fargo, North Dakota in a single year. Nearly 5 million refugees have left Syria for the surrounding nations since fighting broke out in that country.
Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, using data from NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=81818
UNHCR statement: http://www.unhcr.org.uk/news-and-views/news-list/news-detail/article/one-year-on-jordans-zaatri-refugee-camp-mushrooms-into-major-urban-centre.html