Google Earth has not seen too many large updates in recent years but todays update is their biggest in years, allowing you to not only fly through locations on Earth but also see the changes in those areas over time.
With Timelapse in Google Earth 24 million satellite photos from the part 37 years have been compiled by Google into the new update. This compilation allows for an interactive experience through time allowing the user to see how places have changed over time — not always for the better.
Whether it is urban development, climate change or bushfire damage you are interested in you can easily compare and see how the Earth has changed in those areas over time.
To checkout the new timelapse in Google Earth head over to go.co/Timelapse and use the search bar to choose any place on Earth. Google of course have done a lot of the heavy lifting for you and have uploaded more than 800 Timelpase videos in 2D and 3D over at http://goo.gle/TimelapseVideos.
Timelapse is being used already by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University to determine just how the world is changing. Five themes have emerged: forest change, urban growth, warming temperatures, sources of energy and our world’s fragile beauty. Google Earth will help you to understand each of these better by viewing them over time.
Anyone and everyone can access Timelapse in Google Earth allowing all to now only see the changes over time but to study and teach topics such as climate change and urban expansion.
Google will work with their partners to update Google Earth every year throughout the next decide. They hope that the ability to see the changes over time will “ground debates, encourage discovery, and shift perspectives about some of our most pressing global issues.”
The new Timelapse in Google Earth is a handy tool and to be honest is quite striking when you consider the devastation to some of the more beautiful places on our planet. Change is needed and hopefully this helps to drive that.
