Google Earth Engine has released this global, zoomable video that allows you to see how the Earth has changed over the past 32 years. The video was made using 33 different cloud-free annual mosaics of the planet, one taken each year for the years from 1984 until 2016.
(unfortunately it only seems to work on desktop)
Check out this embedded view of how Toronto and its surrounding environment has changed over the years. It is very cool to see the highways being built as well as watching the depletion of the farmland around the city. The Toronto Islands also change over the years. Very cool!
There were 5 million satellite images that were taken over the 3 decade period by 5 different satellites. They were all put together and made interactive by Carnegie Mellon University CREATE Lab’s Time Machine library that makes the combined images zoomable and pannable. Most of the images came from Landsat, a joint USGS/NASA Earth observation program that began observing the Earth in the 1970s. In 2015 and 2016, Landsat 8 imagery, as well as imagery from Sentinel-2A of the European Commission and European Space Agency’s Copernicus Earth observation program, were used as well.
Check out the ice caps, the deserts, the rain forests and explore other parts of the world through the application on their website.
