Timelapse project shows how Earth has changed over 28 years

[Nirkon]

Google has unveiled a new projected dubbed Timelapse that builds on top of its mapping service to help you visualize geographical changes in the Earth over the course of the last 28 years. The project itself comes as the result of a collaboration with NASA and the US Geological Survey (USGS), who have been gathering high resolution satellite images of the Earth for more than 40 years. 

With such a massive archive of imagery collected over the years, organizing and cleaning up everything was no easy task, and that's where Google came in. Using its Google Earth Engine technology, the company sifted through more than 2 million images, which are part of the single longest-running Earth-observing satellite program in existence. Now, through a partnership with Time, they are being presented in timelapse format along with write-ups highlighting several areas of the world for additional context.

Among the locations available for viewing you can find Dubai's artificial Palm Islands, the melting of Alaska's Columbia Glacier, and the the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest.

Google says it went through 909 terabytes of data to find the clearest images of Earth taken every year between 1984 and 2012, ending up with a whopping 1.78 terapixel image for each year. Google later worked with CREATE Lab at Carnegie Mellon University to convert them into easily viewable HTML5 animations.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/52530-timelapse-project-shows-how-earth-has-changed-over-28-years.html

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

This looks pretty cool, but I'm really not in the mood for a huge global warming debate.

 

[Jad Chaar]

WOW! Phenomenal.

 

[yRaz]

This looks pretty cool, but I'm really not in the mood for a huge global warming debate.

then don't join in...

WOW! Phenomenal.

the difference between 1997 and 2006 is jaw dropping. I'm just surprised google was able to put this data together and make those huge images. Guess you should never bet against google.

 

[Jad Chaar]

then don't join in...


the difference between 1997 and 2006 is jaw dropping. I'm just surprised google was able to put this data together and make those huge images. Guess you should never bet against google.

Yeah man! Google can get it right sometimes lol.

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

the difference between 1997 and 2006 is jaw dropping. I'm just surprised google was able to put this data together and make those huge images. Guess you should never bet against google.

Google is great at doing something when they put their mind to it. They've stated their goal is to make something 10 times better than it is today. It's why Gmail started out with like 10 times more storage than any other service and their self driving car is easily 10 times better than any other attempt at a self driving car.

I'm still waiting for them to do something useful though (besides the car... the car will be useful). Cool is great 'n all, but how about collecting data on traffic and figuring out a solution to that, or maybe some data or process based solution to medical costs increases.

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

then don't join in...

I won't, but I hope you guys talk about Al Gore a little... he's always a good conversation starter.

 

[Wendig0]

so the tens of thousands of scientists who have peer reviewed this are wrong? If it wasn't for political gain this wouldn't even be a debate.

I'm saying that it is very conceited of people to think that in the insignificant amount of time that man has been on the Earth, and the even more insignificant amount of time that man has been burning fossil fuels for energy, that man caused global warming. So if you're saying that tens of thousands of scientists have peer reviewed journals claiming that over the millions of years the Earth has been orbiting the Sun, we just happened to **** it all up in the last 150 years, then yes I'm saying they're wrong. Global warming is a natural cycle of the Earth, just as ice ages are.

 

[Wendig0]

There are hundreds of studies out there that have concluded that man has caused this.

There are just as many, or more, claiming the exact opposite.

 

[yRaz]

There are hundreds of studies out there that have concluded that man has caused this.

There are just as many, or more, claiming the exact opposite.

no, there aren't. The science for those studies is sketchy at best and has been rejected by the scientific community. Feel free to cite one. They are usually funded by special interest groups who, well, have a special interest in being able to pollute as much as they like. That's like the chemical companies saying their pesticides arent responsible for killing all the bees.

Renewable resources and clean energy aren't as profitable as drilling for oil and natural gas. Keep in mind, the US is one of the only countries that hasn't accepted this as fact, but I'm sure that's because our education system is failing.

You want to talk about the earth having millions of years for this to happen and it happens over long periods of time. If that's true, why did what is shown in the image happen in just under 30 years?

 

[Jad Chaar]

There are just as many, or more, claiming the exact opposite.

Those are government funded studies, and thus, bias.

 

[pmcardle]

You want to talk about the earth having millions of years for this to happen and it happens over long periods of time. If that's true, why did what is shown in the image happen in just under 30 years?[/quote]

Because they just started recording it! The term I.d.I.o.t. fits this one perfectly...

 

[yRaz]

You want to talk about the earth having millions of years for this to happen and it happens over long periods of time. If that's true, why did what is shown in the image happen in just under 30 years?

Because they just started recording it! The term I.d.I.o.t. fits this one perfectly...[/quote]
obviously you haven't heard about the ice cores we've drilled. We can tell how old the ice is and how long its been there. When ice that has been there for thousands of years melts in 30 you'd be a fool to not think something was up. But you can go on ignoring the facts like the rest of the US

 

[pmcardle]

As a matter of fact, I'm very familiar with ice core drillings and scientific studies that the ice shows the earth has been going through warming a cooling cycle for millions of years, not just the last thirty. Let me add to my previous post... "liberal I.D.I.O.T"

 

[Wendig0]

Those are government funded studies, and thus, bias.

How many green energy companies has our government invested in that have failed miserably? The EPA has been shoving fluorescent bulbs down our throats, and funding the heavily biased studies that claim we did this to the planet by breathing too much, and you're claiming the other side of the fence is biased? The government is so wrapped around the environmentalist's little fingers it isn't even funny.

no, there aren't. The science for those studies is sketchy at best and has been rejected by the scientific community. Feel free to cite one. They are usually funded by special interest groups who, well, have a special interest in being able to pollute as much as they like. That's like the chemical companies saying their pesticides arent responsible for killing all the bees.

Renewable resources and clean energy aren't as profitable as drilling for oil and natural gas. Keep in mind, the US is one of the only countries that hasn't accepted this as fact, but I'm sure that's because our education system is failing.

You want to talk about the earth having millions of years for this to happen and it happens over long periods of time. If that's true, why did what is shown in the image happen in just under 30 years?

And I suppose the studies claiming that global warming was all man made weren't funded by special interest groups (*cough cough* Al Gore) who were trying to get rich off of people with electric cars, fluorescent/led light bulbs that cost 10 times more than incandescent bulbs, cap and trade, etc?

http://www.climatedepot.com/2009/07...ming-and-cooling-can-be-attributed-to-humans/

http://www.epw.senate.gov/public/in...ecord_id=84e9e44a-802a-23ad-493a-b35d0842fed8

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesta...cientists-skeptical-of-global-warming-crisis/

 

[yRaz]

As a matter of fact, I'm very familiar with ice core drillings and scientific studies that the ice shows the earth has been going through warming a cooling cycle for millions of years, not just the last thirty. Let me add to my previous post... "liberal I.D.I.O.T"

The natural cycle happens over millions of years, not over a few decades. This is not a natural part of the cycle. The planet isn't suppose to warm 2 degrees Celsius over 100 years. That rise in temperature seemed to start just a few decades after the steel industry started to boom. That trend has seemed to accelerate since. It makes me mad that people like you are ruining the world for my kids. I'll be dead before we start to see the real impact, but they won't.

it's too bad most peoples only education in science is a high school chemistry class.

 

[Guest]

Yes, there are lots of opposing views on this. The problem with global warming is that people get rich off of it so much that it makes it hard to believe that there is any gain whatsoever in opposing it. All of the political and financial gain is actually in the problem, and not the solution. Opposing it does not make you rich, ranting about the fervor does.

 

[Wendig0]

It makes me mad that people like you are ruining the world for my kids. I'll be dead before we start to see the real impact, but they won't.

it's too bad most peoples only education in science is a high school chemistry class.

Pfffft. More alarmist liberal BS. There is clearly no way we're going to agree on this, but you seem to be pretty damned one sided in your thinking as well, not to mention downright mean.

 

[yRaz]

It makes me mad that people like you are ruining the world for my kids. I'll be dead before we start to see the real impact, but they won't.

it's too bad most peoples only education in science is a high school chemistry class.

Pfffft. More alarmist liberal BS. There is clearly no way we're going to agree on this, but you seem to be pretty damned one sided in your thinking as well, not to mention downright mean.

I like how you have to resort to name calling instead of presenting evidence that explains why I'm wrong.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Ignorance is bliss. It is unfortunate.

 

[yRaz]

And I suppose the studies claiming that global warming was all man made weren't funded by special interest groups (*cough cough* Al Gore) who were trying to get rich off of people with electric cars, fluorescent/led light bulbs that cost 10 times more than incandescent bulbs, cap and trade, etc?

http://www.climatedepot.com/2009/07...ming-and-cooling-can-be-attributed-to-humans/

http://www.epw.senate.gov/public/in...ecord_id=84e9e44a-802a-23ad-493a-b35d0842fed8

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesta...cientists-skeptical-of-global-warming-crisis/

those bulbs cost less in the long run. Please, tell me that you don't want a lower electric bill. So far, I have never had to change one of those bulbs and I've been using them for about 6 years as well as reducing my electric bill by about $20/month We only have about another 100 years left of fossil fuels. If the rate at which we use them keeps increasing then that could happen even sooner. If we aren't ready for the inevitable it would mean global collapse. There is more to green energy than cap and trade and "liberal idio.ts".

 

[Wendig0]

I like how you have to resort to name calling instead of presenting evidence that explains why I'm wrong.

I'm the one resorting to name calling? You need to reread what you wrote dude. I called you a liberal, which you most certainly are. I didn't tell you that you were responsible for destroying the planet for the next generation, and insult your education.

You are the typical Fox news watching type of guy that other countries point at and make fun of when they talk about the US. Pick up a book. Turn your NASCAR off for 5 minutes, left your wife recover from her black eye, and do some research.

Or continue being a ***** in your right wing bubble.

Just so you know, I don't watch Fox, or any other MSM. I DO read, plenty actually. Probably more than most people who tell people they need to pick up a book. I form my own opinions about pretty much everything, and I can't stand our elected democrats or republicans that don't stand for jack sh*t any more. I'm sick of paying for somebody else's food stamps to buy liquor, cigarettes, lobster, and filet mignon when they're walking around with $300 shoes, and $180 blue jeans, and I work my *** off to pay my bills, AND theirs all while not taking a single penny from the government. I've never hit a woman in my life, and there isn't a damn thing wrong with Nascar, golf, baseball, football, or any other sport you might be interested in. You must be really lonely on that giant pedestal of yours.

 

[Jad Chaar]

I agree with you 100% Wendig0, that can get frustrating. But look at it as charity. As for being a liberal, there is nothing wrong with that. We disagree. That is fine! But dont let this develop into a further flame war. I agree with yRaz and Wendig0 (some points ).

 

[St1ckM4n]

Australia looks pretty much the same! I see a small change in the hue of the desert, but it's very minimal and could be a photo flaw.

Since humans are definitely outnumbered by the sheer land mass, it seems Australians haven't had a big visual impact on the country.

 

[hahahanoobs]

How much time and money has been spent on equipment used to monitor global warming between the year 1700 and 1983, compared to the last 30 years?