Google Earth recently released updated Timelapse videos that showcase changes in global locations over four decades. Using tech advances and satellite imagery, the videos provide an amazing look into how cities like New York City, London, Tokyo, and Sydney have evolved over time.
The updated Timelapse videos feature a zoomable interface that allows viewers to pan and zoom into cities, landscapes, and landmarks from 1984 to the present. With the click of a button, the Timelapse videos show how cities like Paris, New York, London, and Tokyo have expanded over the last four decades.
One of the most remarkable changes in the modern cityscape is the speed of development, especially in cities like New Delhi, India. In a single Timelapse video, it’s easy to see how the city’s urban sprawl has evolved. Similarly, Timelapse videos of Abu Dhabi illustrate the UAE’s rapid development, with the expanse of desert space nearly disappearing over the course of 20 years.
At the same time, Google Earth’s Timelapse videos reveal how natural environments and surfaces have changed over time. Videos of the Amazon Rainforest, for instance, uncover the effects of deforestation, showing how some areas have been almost totally deforested in just a few decades. Similarly, satellite images capture changes in the Arctic landscape, as retreating glaciers leave behind new bodies of water.
More broadly, the Timelapse videos help us to understand the power of our planet’s changing climate, with the ice melting away in Greenland and the rise of sea levels in many cities creating visible damage to their coastlines.
Overall, Google Earth has made it possible for viewers to gain an insightful look into our world’s changing landscapes and cities through their impressive Timelapse videos. As the videos give viewers the ability to witness the transformation of their own cities and the planet at large, it’s clear that satellite imagery and digital technology have the power to make environmental change visible.
