Google Earth Shows The Effects of Nearly 40 Years of Climate Change

The 3D time-lapses feature Earth’s landscapes year per year as they dwindle down.

Loukia Papadopoulos
Google Earth Shows The Effects of Nearly 40 Years of Climate Change

Climate change is real and it is here but there are still many who deny it. Perhaps then this new feature by Google Earth will inspire them to change their minds.

The feature showcases how the planet has changed since 1984 with beautiful time-lapses you can not afford to miss. It also offers useful information on each of the outcomes of climate change provided.

For instance, did you know that the Columbia Glacier has retreated more than 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) to the north, making it one of the fastest-changing glaciers on the planet? Did you also know that the Amazon rainforest is being converted into villages and farms?

Google earth does a great job of show-and-tell, featuring Earth’s most beautiful landscapes year per year as they dwindle down due to human interference and climate change. It offers five suggested categories of time-lapses: Changing Forests, Fragile Beauty, Sources of Energy, Warming Planet, and Urban Expansion.

“Our planet has seen rapid environmental change in the past half-century — more than any other point in human history. Many of us have experienced these changes in our own communities; I myself was among the thousands of Californians evacuated from their homes during the state’s wildfires last year,” Rebecca Moore, director of Earth Engine & Outreach at Google Earth, writes in a blog.

“For other people, the effects of climate change feel abstract and far away, like melting ice caps and receding glaciers. 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.”