NASA scientists have compiled a captivating video that maps how the Earth’s surface has changed over a span of 20 years, using data from various satellites.
In the Northern Hemisphere, ecosystems wake up in the spring and sprout new leaves, while a fleet of Earth-observing satellites track the spread of the newly green vegetation.
In the oceans, microscopic plants drift through the sunlit surface waters and bloom into billions of carbon dioxide-absorbing organisms.
The new animation captures the entirety of this 20-year record, made possible by multiple satellites. Since the fall of 1997, NASA satellites have continuously and globally observed all plant life at the surface of the land and ocean.