Google Updates Its 30-Year Timelapse of Earth With Four More Years and Sharper Images

Google updated their 30-year Google Earth Timelapse with four more years of data and even sharper images from two new satellites, giving a clearer and more complete view of the planet from above.

The company partnered with Time to highlight some of the most interesting features on the planet as they change over time including shrinking glaciers, land developments, shifting rivers and more.

Using Google Earth Engine, we sifted through about three quadrillion pixels—that’s 3 followed by 15 zeroes—from more than 5,000,000 satellite images. For this latest update, we had access to more images from the past, thanks to the Landsat Global Archive Consolidation Program, and fresh images from two new satellites, Landsat 8 and Sentinel-2.