The Google logo is displayed outside the company’s offices in New York, USA, June 4, 2019. REUTERS / Brendan McDermid / File Photo
Google Earth on Thursday added a timelapse feature to the popular platform, offering a look at how climate change, urbanization and deforestation have changed the planet over the past four decades.
Created with 24 million satellite images, along with 800 clean videos and interactive guides, this feature allows users to see a timelapse of anywhere on the planet, using NASA inputs, the US Geological Survey’s Landsat program and Copernicus’ program European Union.
Climate change is causing more frequent and severe floods, droughts, storms and heat waves, as global average temperatures rise to new highs.
Google Earth’s timelapse tool shows the change of the coastline, the extensive expansion of urban landscapes and agricultural land, as well as the simultaneous recession of glaciers, forests and rivers.
A video shows the rapid transition of forests near Bolivia to villages and farms, a major cause of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest; while another shows the recession of the Columbia Glacier in Alaska by 20 kilometers due to global warming.
Scientists have warned that an increase in global greenhouse gas emissions could lead to extreme weather conditions and higher risks due to natural disasters.
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