Google Earth Engine now allows people to see the environmental alterations our planet has gone through over the years.
Studies in the past have shown how human activities have impacted and altered Earth but the common people were not able to witness the extent of this impact and alternations. Well, now they can. Google has launched a new time-lapse map called Google Earth Engine, which allows people to see the alternations human activities have made to the Earth's surface since 1984.
This zoomable, global map allows people to see the yearly changes that have occurred in each and every spot on the planet; ranging from the urban expansion in the Nevada desert, the destruction of the Amazon rainforest in South America to the drying up of Aral Sea in Central Asia.
The project is a result of Google's collaboration with the US Geological Survey (USGA)and NASA, which provided Google with more than a million satellite images of Earth's surface to build the map on. The project was initiated in 2009.
Google reveals that this new launch could help scientists, researchers and ecologists in classifying land cover, detecting deforestation, estimating forest biomass and carbon and mapping the world's roadless areas.
"Much like the iconic image of Earth from the Apollo 17 mission-which had a profound effect on many of us-this time-lapse map is not only fascinating to explore, but we also hope it can inform the global community's thinking about how we live on our planet and the policies that will guide us in the future," said Moore.
For the U.S. Geological Survey, the launch of Google Earth Engine is the latest example of how its policy of unrestricted access and free distribution of Landsat satellite imagery to the public brings up innovation and mutual awareness of environmental conditions around Earth.
"The 40-year archive of Landsat images of every spot on earth is a treasure trove of scientific information that can form the basis for a myriad of useful applications by commercial enterprises, government scientists and managers, the academic community, and the public at large," said Anne Castle, assistant secretary of the Interior for Water and Science, in a USGS press release.
