In Google Earth, you can now go back 37 years

How has the Aral Sea dried up since the 1980s? What has the development of the Chinese megalopolis been like since 1984? What is the impact of global warming on the Columbia Glacier in Alaska? You may be asking yourself these questions, thanks to the new “Timelapse” option, Created by Google Earth And will be available online starting Thursday, April 15th.

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To update its timing, the company near San Jose, California has added millions of satellite photos over the past 37 years. “To integrate Timelabs’ animated images with Google Earth, we have collected over 20 million satellite images taken between 1984 and 2000, explains google dIn his press release. In all, it took more than 2 million hours of processing to digest 20 petabyte satellite images of thousands of computers in the Google Cloud and convert them to 4.4 terabixel video mosaic (equivalent to 530,000 videos) in 4K resolution!»

Visual evidence

To go into timelaps, a timeline allows you to scan the years 1984 to 2020. Can be accessed anywhere in the world, but Google offers some key locations, such as building the Bay Bridge in San Francisco (California). , The continuous expansion of the city of Dubai (United Arab Emirates) and the construction of the Berlin Airport (Germany). You can also access 3D footage of these developments in videos On this page.

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Google specifically worked with experts at Carnegie Mellon University to develop this technology. The company relied on open data provided by NASA and its Landsat program from the US Geological Survey, but also relied on the EU’s Copernicus program with its sentinel satellites. With this new tool, Google wants to raise awareness about global warming, urbanization and deforestation. “Visual evidence can resolve disputes better than words and convey complex messages to as many people as possibleGoogle said in its press release.