Google Earth has unveiled features that allows users to view more than three decades of imagery from satellites. The tool is called Timelapse and can be used by scientists, journalists and activists for investigations.
How Timelapse works?
To see all the changes in the region user should zoom in on a specific location and choose a date range.
The data processing requirements of turning all of these images into plain animations were enormous. According to a blog post on Google’s website, the task required “more than two million processing hours across thousands of machines in Google Cloud” to compile satellite imagery into a video mosaic.
According to Google, the computing was powered using 100% renewable energy. That goes in align with the company’s commitments to cut its own emissions.
Why it matters for climate change?
Now, we have a sobering look at the consequences of human actions towards planet Earth and can comprehend the overwhelming footprint on the climate – from melting glaciers to deforestation to rapid expansion of cities – via thorough visualization.
“Our planet has seen rapid environmental change in the past half-century — more than any other point in human history,”
Rebecca Moore, director of Google Earth, Earth Engine and outreach