星空下的灯塔，德国Westerhever镇 Westerheversand Lighthouse in Westerhever, Germany (© Sandra Bartocha/Minden Pictures)

星空下的灯塔，德国Westerhever镇 Westerheversand Lighthouse in Westerhever, Germany (© Sandra Bartocha/Minden Pictures)

Westerheversand Lighthouse

Even in the places most altered by humans, nature seems to slip through, like the Milky Way shown here peeking between light beams from Germany's Westerheversand Lighthouse. This beacon lies along the Wadden Sea, which forms the world's largest tidal flat along the Dutch, German, and Danish coasts.

This soggy low country was once prone to deadly flooding, but over time, locals have moved earth and sea to reinvent the coastline with dikes, causeways, and artificial islands. You may not guess it by the thousands of species of seabirds, shellfish, and other lifeforms that thrive here, but this UNESCO-recognized biosphere is one of the most engineered locales on Earth.

韦斯特海尔桑灯塔

即使在那些被人类改变最多的地方，自然似乎也在悄悄溜走，就像图中所示的银河系在德国西部凡尔赛灯塔的光束之间窥视。这座灯塔位于瓦登海沿岸，瓦登海在荷兰、德国和丹麦海岸形成了世界上最大的潮坪。

这个潮湿低洼的国家曾经容易发生致命的洪水，但随着时间的推移，当地人已经移动了土地和海洋，用堤坝、堤道和人工岛屿重建了海岸线。你可能无法从这里繁衍生息的数千种海鸟、贝类和其他生命形式中猜到，但这个联合国教科文组织认可的生物圈是地球上最精心设计的地方之一。