Google Earth Shares 37 Years of Climate Change Timelapse

A new video feature in the Google Earth app will display four decades of satellite imagery, demonstrating the catastrophic effects of climate change worldwide.

The Associated Press said that glaciers, beaches, and trees, among other things, can be seen in vivid detail to see how the world around them is shifting.

The latest feature was announced on Thursday and is being praised as Google Earth's most significant update in the last five years.

The method, according to Google, was a complex project that drew data from 24 million satellite images taken every year between 1984 and 2020. NASA, the US Geological Survey, and the European Union collaborated on the project, which included many government agencies worldwide.

Google Earth Features Clearer Picture of Changing Planet

Google Earth Director Rebecca Moore wrote in a blog post Thursday that visual evidence can get to the heart of a discussion in a way that words can't. Moore said it can help people understand complicated issues.

Moore has been personally affected by the climate crisis. Last year, she was one of many Californians forced to flee their homes due to wildfires. On the other hand, the new function allows people to see more distant shifts, such as ice caps melting.

"With Timelapse in Google Earth, we have a clearer picture of our changing planet right at our fingertips - one that shows not just problems but also solutions, as well as mesmerizingly beautiful natural phenomena that unfold over decades," she wrote.

According to Fortune, one of the climate changes that audiences will see is the melting of 12 miles of Alaska's Columbia Glacier between 1984 and 2020. They can also observe the Pine Island Glacier in Antarctica disintegrate. However, the shifts are not limited to the effects of global warming.

According to Moore, the developers described five themes, each of which is represented by a guided tour in Google Earth. They are as follows:

1. Forest change, such as deforestation in Bolivia for soybean farming
2. Urban growth, such as the quintupling of Las Vegas sprawl
3. Warming temperatures, such as melting glaciers and ice sheets
4. Sources of energy, such as the impacts of coal mining on Wyoming's landscape
5. Fragile beauty, such as the flow of Bolivia's Mamoré River

The functionality, on the other hand, allows you to see changes on a smaller scale. CNN explained that you can search for any spot, including your own neighborhood, in the search bar. According to Gizmodo, the feature lacks the level of detail found in Street View. It's meant to demonstrate big changes over time, rather than minor details like road or house building.

Was The TimeLapse Successful?

NASA, the US Geological Survey's Landsat satellites, and the European Union's Copernicus program and Sentinel satellites collaborated to create Timelapse images. Carnegie Mellon University helped develop this project.

Natalie Mahowald, an engineering professor at Cornell University and a climate scientist, said the project was successful.

"This is amazing," she told The Associated Press after watching a preview of the new feature. "Trying to get people to understand the scope of the climate change and the [land-use] problem is so difficult because of the long time and spatial scales. I would not be surprised if this one bit of software changes many people's minds about the scale of the impact of humans on the environment."

The impact of changing climate has been compared and contrasted using time-lapse satellite imagery. Many areas of the world are changing. The majority of scientists believe that human activity is the primary source of emissions.

With 3 billion mobile users, Google Earth allows users to see melting glaciers, shrinking forests, shifting energy consumption habits, and much more.

There will be a storytelling mode with 800 different locations in 2D and 3D to explore. Videos will be available via YouTube, a Google product. You may also visit g.co/Timelapse directly or click on the Ship's Wheel icon in Google Earth, then select Timelapse.

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