28-year time lapse shows Earth's drastic changes (pictures)

Google Earth composites with annual Landsat satellite imagery show the changing landscape of our planet.

James Martin

May 9, 2013 2:36 p.m. PT

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Google/USGS/Landsat

Brazilian Amazon deforestation

Using annual Landsat satellite imagery captured since 1984, Google has created dramatic composites depicting our changing world, the death and growth of natural lands, and humans' impact on the landscape.

The animated GIFs show development and destruction pulsing like a living being, with forests receding, water evaporating, and cities growing. Las Vegas crawls across the desert and construction is booming, while the Brazilian Amazon rainforest, seen here, and glaciers disappear before your eyes.

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Google/USGS/Landsat

Columbia Glacier retreat

The Columbia Glacier in Prince William Sound on the coast of Alaska is one of the fastest-moving glaciers in the world, and has been retreating rapidly since the early 1980s.

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Google/USGS/Landsat

Dubai coastal expansion

Growth is not limited to just land. Here, in Dubai, we see the pace of coastal development and the expansion of manmade island resorts in the early 2000s.