83% of the lights in Syria have gone dark

Image: Manu Brabo, File/Associated Press

The ongoing Syrian conflict is literally plunging the country into darkness.

A new study of satellite imagery collected from the start of the conflict shows that the lights visible over Syria at night have fallen by 83% since March 2011.

Seen from NASA satellites 500 miles above Earth, the imagery gives an unprecedented perspective on the damage to Syria's infrastructure. On the left is the view from March 2011 and on the right, the same location seen in December 2014.

Researchers from China's Wuhan University, alongside colleagues at the University of Maryland, partnered with non-governmental organization #WithSyria to analyze the images. They assessed an average of the monthly light seen at night over Syria to account for those nights with cloud cover, which can reflect some moon light.

“Satellite imagery is the most objective source of data showing the devastation of Syria on a national scale,” Xi Li, the project's lead researcher, said in a statement. “These images help us understand the suffering and fear experienced by ordinary Syrians every day, as their country is destroyed around them."

Assessed province by province, the decline in light is even more shocking. In Aleppo province, which has been gripped by fighting between rebel forces and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime since 2012, the lights in the night sky have been reduced by 97%. Meanwhile, in Raqqa province, where Islamic State (ISIS) militants have taken control and have a de facto capital, 96% of the lights have gone dark.

Even Syria's capital city of Damascus, still largely controlled by the Assad regime, has seen a decrease of 33% of its lights.

According to the project's researchers, the lights have gone out for several reasons: Countless buildings and electricity infrastructure throughout Syria have been destroyed. In addition, swathes of the country have been virtually abandoned by those seeking safety elsewhere.