Google Earth’s Time Lapse Feature Shows Climate Change, Land Use Impact

Washington – Google has updated its earth-viewing app to add a time-lapse feature that illustrates how our planet has changed over the past four decades.

Billed as the biggest update to Google Earth since 2017, the tool combines 24 million satellite photos taken from 1984 to 2020 into an interactive 4D experience, the fourth dimension being time.

“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,” a blogpost read.

Google collaborated on the project with the US space agency NASA and the European Space Agency. It selected several themes for the presentation, ranging from forest change, urban growth, warming temperatures, to sources of energy.