USGS Landsat 8 image showing algal bloom in Lake Erie in September of 2017. None of this would have been possible without the help of USGS: The data from USGS/NASA Landsat satellites have been the major source for the global imagery behind the Google Earth application, including this new feature. The new Timelapse tool allows researchers, educators, nonprofits, governments, and the world-wide community to access powerful 3D visuals to study our planet’s stories and consider actions regarding climate change, sustainable development and much more.

Now anyone can watch time unfold across the globe and witness nearly four decades of planetary change. With Timelapse in Google Earth, 20 million satellite photos from the past 37 years have been embedded into Google Earth, allowing users to explore changes to our planet's surface over time.

In the biggest update to Google Earth since 2017, you can now see our planet in an entirely new dimension: time. The USGS, along with NASA, the European Commission, and the European Space Agency, has been critical in the provision of imagery for this new version of Google Earth Timelapse that shows visual evidence of global changes spanning nearly 40 years.

Google earth view map over time