Google Earth comes packed with lots of cool features, including a time-lapse tool that can show you how our planet has changed.
Alphabet’s Google Earth is one of the most practical tools in existence today.
The service uses satellite imagery to let you explore all corners of the world – some in 3D – from your computer.
And from April last year, users can now access a smart time-lapse feature that shows how their neighborhoods have changed over the last 37 years.
Google purchased more than 24 million satellite images taken over four decades for the tool.
This feature is intended to display “not only problems but also solutions,” according to a Google blog post.
Rebecca Moore, director of Google Earth, further noted that Google Earth’s time-lapse tool can also display “breathtakingly beautiful natural phenomena that unfold over decades.”
The technology giant plans to add new images to the project on an ongoing basis over the next decade.
Google is working closely with NASA, the US Geological Survey’s Landsat program and the EU’s Copernicus program on the project.
Meanwhile, the time-lapse feature is powered by Carnegie Mellon University’s CREATE Lab.
How to view an hour-lapse of your hometown
Go to your browser first, then follow this link: g.co/Timelapse.
Then go to the “Search the Planet” search box and enter anywhere on Earth.
Once you select an address, Google Earth pulls it up and starts displaying time-lapse.
The time-lapse map is displayed on the left and the search field will be on the right.
Users can use the plus and minus buttons to zoom in and out, respectively.
You can also pause or pause time-lapse using the settings above the search bar.
This story originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced here with permission.