A Breathing Earth, Animated GIFs Show the Planet's Seasonal Changes

John Nelson has created “A Breathing Earth,” a series of animated GIFs made from NASA’s cloud-free satellite imagery of the Earth that show the oscillations of snow and greenery as the seasons change.

I of course had some expectation of what I would see as a result of animating these frames. But I didn’t expect to be so mesmerized by them. I can’t look away. Why? Having spent much of my life living near the center of that mitten-shaped peninsula in North America, I have had a consistent seasonal metronome through which I track the years of my life. When I stitch together what can be an impersonal snapshot of an entire planet, all of the sudden I see a thing with a heartbeat. I can track one location throughout a year to compare the annual push and pull of snow and plant life there, while in my periphery I see the oscillating wave of life advancing and retreating, advancing and retreating. And I’m reassured by it.

Larger versions of the GIFs can be found at Nelson’s website.