Google Earth adds time lapse video to depict climate change


Team Udayavani, Apr 15, 2021, 7:28 PM IST

San Ramon: The Google Earth app is adding a new video feature that draws upon nearly four decades of satellite imagery to vividly illustrate how climate change has affected glaciers, beaches, forests and other places around the world.

The tool unveiled Thursday is rolling out in what is being billed as the biggest update to Google Earth in five years. Google says it undertook the complex project in partnership with several government agencies, including NASA in the US and its European counterpart, in hopes that it will help a mass audience grasp the sometimes abstract concept of climate change in more tangible terms through its free Earth app.

Cornell University climate scientist Natalie Mahowald believes that mission may be accomplished.

“This is amazing,” she told The Associated Press after watching a preview of the new feature. “Trying to get people to understand the scope of the climate change and the land use problem is so difficult because of the long time and spatial scales. I would not be surprised if this one bit of software changes many people”s minds about the scale of the impact of humans on the environment.”

This isn”t the first time time-lapse satellite imagery has been used to demonstrate show how parts of the world are changing before our eyes due to a changing climate. Most scientists agree that climate change is being driven by pollution primarily produced by humans.

But earlier images have mostly focused on melting glaciers and haven”t been widely available on an already popular app like Google Earth, which can be downloaded on most of the more than 3 billion smartphones now in use around the world

Google is promising that people will be able to see a time lapse presentation of just about anywhere they want to search. The feature also includes a storytelling mode highlighting 800 different places on the planet in both 2D and 3D formats. Those videos also will be available on Google”s YouTube video site, a service more widely used than the Earth app.

The feature was created from 24 million satellite images taken every year from 1984 to 2020 and provided by NASA, the US Geological Survey and the European Union, according to Google. The time lapse technology was created with the help of Carnegie Mellon University.

Google plans to update the time lapse imagery at least once a year.

Udayavani is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with the latest news.

Top News

Jasprit Bumrah, Virat Kohli my favourite cricketers: Ex-CJI D Y Chandrachud

Veg diet, alcohol abstinence, behaviour training: UP cops prep for ‘pleasant’ Maha Kumbh

Senior BJP leaders meet Fadnavis after Mahayuti’s landslide win

Vijayapura: One-year-old child abducted from district hosp

‘Mrs’ a beautiful blend of my two passions acting and dancing: Sanya Malhotra

India reach 359-5 at tea against Australia on day 3 of opening Test

Kerala bypolls results: People reject anti-incumbency wave campaign by political opponents, says CPI

Related Articles More

COP29: India rejects new USD 300 billion climate finance deal

Royal tour of India in offing for King Charles, Queen Camilla: Report

Indian-American leaders applaud PM Modi for inclusive growth in India

COP29: Civil society protests climate finance proposal, calls for ‘no deal’ over ‘bad deal’

Bomb disposal squad tackles ‘security incident’ at UK’s Gatwick Airport

MUST WATCH

Prakash Belawadi

Naxal Leader Vikram Gowda

Christmas Cake Fruit Mixing

DK Shivakumar

Rose Cultivation


Latest Additions

Kapil Dev praises Bumrah for leading team from the front

Sambhal violence orchestrated by BJP, govt to divert attention from poll rigging: Akhilesh

CRPF sets up three new forward bases in Chhattisgarh’s hardcore Naxal areas

Jasprit Bumrah, Virat Kohli my favourite cricketers: Ex-CJI D Y Chandrachud

Veg diet, alcohol abstinence, behaviour training: UP cops prep for ‘pleasant’ Maha Kumbh

Thanks for visiting Udayavani

You seem to have an Ad Blocker on.
To continue reading, please turn it off or whitelist Udayavani.