Google Charts Our Affect on the Environment

Google’s put together something that only they could put together, and it’s as amazing and vaguely terrifying as everything Google does. Utilizing millions (millions) of satellite photos They’ve put together animated GIFs that timelapse the past 30-ish years of our planet’s changes. You can head over to Timelapse, put your cursor over any part of the globe, and see animation of how it’s changed since 1984. It’s not exactly cheery viewing, as most of the animation involves deforestation, drying rivers and retreating glaciers, but you also see the irrigation of deserts in the Middle East and just the onward march of humanity in general. One thing it does not chart is how much Google itself has changed the world, but perhaps that’s a whole different project. Or perhaps this project serves as an example of it just fine by itself …