Google Doodle Celebrates Earth Day with Haunting Images

Today marks Earth Day 2022, and Google Doodle is highlighting the occasion with stark, time-lapse images.

Created from a combination of Google Earth satellite images and photos by The Ocean Agency – a non-profit conservation organisation – the doodle on the search engine’s homepage shows the drastic effects of climate change around the globe over the years.

Four locations showing the before-and-after effects of climate change include: Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro from December 1986 to 2020, melted away; Greenland’s glacial retreat from December 2000 to 2020, also severely melted; the Great Barrier Reef’s Lizard Island from March 2016 to October 2017, bleached; and Germany’s Harz Forests between December 1995 and 2020, stripped of its trees.

Shown in the form of GIFs, the images of these locations will be available to view for several hours at a time throughout the day.

No doubt this is a grim yet necessary illustration that conveys the amount of damage that we as humans have inflicted upon our planet, and the complacency with which we view the issue.

But it’s not too late: you can still take matters into your own hands. Reach out to non-profit, environmental organisations in your communities, join or establish a “green” group at your church or school, or start a conversation with your friends, family and community leaders about reducing your carbon footprint.

Because even beyond Earth Day, our world deserves our attention and respect more than ever.

Image Credit: Source