Google Earth’s Timelapse project is a great way to look at the journey of our home Earth and see the changes that have taken place in the past few decades. Google has released a major update to the project that provides animated satellite imagery covering 32 years of the journey (1984-2016) by adding more detail than ever before.
It is four years more this time as compared to the previous time. The best part: You can watch any area on Earth in a time lapse video. Our view of the world is now more refreshing than it has ever been before.
This major Timelapse update will not only give you the chance to see the urban expansion across different places on the Earth but also help you realize the drastic climate change that has happened in just 32 years of time.
In its announcement post, Google highlighted some of the best time lapses to watch around the world like glaciers retreating in Antarctica, growth of major cities like Las Vegas, rivers rerouting in Tibet, tar sand mining expanding in Canada, the amazing expansion into the sea at Dalian, China, and more.
To make this project a reality, Google screened through about three quadrillion pixels from more than 5 million satellite pictures to create 33 new images of the world. Google accessed images of the past from the Landsat Global Archive Consolidation Program and fresh images from two new satellites, Landsat 8 and Sentinel-2. Each is 3.95 terapixels in size but gives us the zoomable map.
If you want to experience this time lapse journey of our ever-changing world, simply visit the Google Earth’s Timelapse web page or through the historical imagery feature within the Google Earth desktop app and start exploring. While exploring, you have the option to pan around the satellite image and zoom in or out as per your preference. You can also watch Google’s 40-hour YouTube playlist of time lapse videos.
Terry Ts 
Rudhra Nandu