Science

‘Most Historically Significant Images of Earth’: Satellite Images Show 40 Years of Natural and Man-Made Change

NASA’s Landsat program on Monday celebrated its satellites providing the longest ever continuous view of Earth. For 40 years, the satellites have been recording from space a view of what’s going on with Earth, capturing natural land changes as well as a slew of human activity including population changes and farming.

According to NASA, the program provides “direct societal benefits” as it pertains to “human and environmental health, energy and water management, urban planning, disaster recovery and agriculture.” Wired describes the program’s images as the “most historically significant images of Earth from space.”

“Landsat has given us a critical perspective on our planet over the long term and will continue to help us understand the big picture of Earth and its changes from space,” NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement. “With this view we are better prepared to take action on the ground and be better stewards of our home.”

Watch this CBS Local report out of Baltimore on the anniversary:

Although NASA points out in its announcement of the satellite program’s success that it is about more than just pictures of Earth — “they contain many layers of data” — the pictures alone are certainly stunning. Here are a few showing the comparisons over the years:

NASA and USGS Landsat Program Celebrates 40th Anniversary

This 1972 and 2012 comparison of the greater Washington, D.C., area by the Landsat satellites shows urban sprawl. (Image: NASA/USGS)

NASA and USGS Landsat Program Celebrates 40th Anniversary

Bolivian deforestation as seen during 1975, 1992 and 2000. (Image: NASA/USGS)

NASA and USGS Landsat Program Celebrates 40th Anniversary

Aral Sea shrinking as seen in 1975 and 2009. What once was the fourth largest lake in the world has been shrinking thanks to irrigation diversion and dams. (Image: NASA/USGS)

NASA and USGS Landsat Program Celebrates 40th Anniversary

Great Salt Lake in Utah in 1972, 1988 and 2002. (Image: NASA/USGS)

NASA and USGS Landsat Program Celebrates 40th Anniversary

Dallas-Fort Worth growth from 1974, 1989 and 2003. (Image: NASA/USGS)

NASA and USGS Landsat Program Celebrates 40th Anniversary

Changes in the Mississippi River Delta from 1973, 1989 and 2003. (Image: NASA/USGS)

According to NASA, six of the seven Landsat satellites have been launched since 1972. The seventh is expected to be sent up in February 2013.

“The first 40 years of the Landsat program have delivered the most consistent and reliable record of Earth’s changing landscape,” Michael Freilich, director of NASA’s Earth Science Division in the Science Mission Directorate in Washington, said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing this tradition of excellence with the even greater capacity and enhanced technologies of LDCM.”

See more images from the Landsat 40th anniversary here.

This story has been updated from its original posting to correct the date. 

Comments (104)

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  • Ironmaan
    Posted on July 24, 2012 at 2:08pm

    I just looked at a picture of myself from 1972 and now. Wow, that global warming IS nasty!

    Report Post »  
  • Blazen420
    Posted on July 24, 2012 at 1:51pm

    What these photos can’t do is tell you if these areas were experiencing a severe drought, or excessive rain, when the photos were taken. There is an old saying, Don’t believe anything you hear, and only half of what you see.

    Report Post »  
  • PrfctlyFrank
    Posted on July 24, 2012 at 1:16pm

    OMG the world is changing? Seriously? I‘m quite certain this has never happened before and since we’re sure the Earth has never changed before then man must be the evil that is a cancer on this world changing the climate.. Therefore, the only thing that makes sense is for the US (arguably one of the most environmentally conscious nations) to surrender as much sovereignty as the UN thinks we should and let 3rd world countries tell us how to energize our industries.. Yeah, thats the answer..

    Report Post » PrfctlyFrank  
    • thx1138v2
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 2:50pm

      What 20th century country had the most strict environmental laws? The USSR. What 20th century country did the most environmental harm? The USSR. I perfect example of the philosophy of making everything illegal and selectively enforcing the laws.

      If the global climate change “scientists” really want to save the world by reducing the human population they need to play Russian roulette using a revolver loaded with four bullets. That’s how accurate their computer models can be proven to be – 33%. Actually that is better odds than their climate models which can be proven to be 30% accurate.

      Report Post »  
  • smokeyridgerunner
    Posted on July 24, 2012 at 1:14pm

    Man not believing in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that is what is wrong with the weather. Remember he used water the last time and this time we will bake from the Sun and not water.

    Report Post »  
    • ChiefGeorge
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 2:34pm

      Indeed!

      In the end he tells us they shall neither thirst nor suffer from the heat! Why would God say that? Because we are headed for a massive drought and its already been starting. The more man interfere’s with this natural phenom, the more he causes it to be worse ie…Cloud seeding! Watch contrails in your local skys when they appear and what weather that then brings esp here on the West coast where mose cloud seeding is started so the Pacific winds can blow them Eastward. For several weeks now the usual contrails have not been present (massive heat spells) but they sure were around the time of massive tornado outbreaks this spring and last year as well. They can turn it on and off at will.

      Report Post » ChiefGeorge  
  • Hickory
    Posted on July 24, 2012 at 1:05pm

    Most of us normal and average people are being beat over the head with population control. Yet, others in 3rd world countries and some ethnicities in this country continue to have many, many kids out of wedlock. These unlimited proliferators are flooding the world with hungry mouths and demanding services the rest of us have to work for and provide. In order to provide for these takers, we doers need more resources. And………………. we still have smaller families. But, we get blamed. Remember the stories of Octomom, the guy in Chicago with 20 something illegitimate kids? They are the problem, not us. I believe that if you have more than two illegitimate kids, you should go on some kind of birth control. This should be also pushed on to unmarried dads.

    Report Post » Hickory  
    • ChiefGeorge
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 2:38pm

      This is true!

      The African continent has been subsidized for decades now and nothing has gotten any better there except for huge population explosions built around handouts! Now these people demand ever more subsidies from the world of affluent nations who through their liberal governments are all to happy to tax their own hardworking ppl more to hand out to the third world and their crony governments. The road to this ruin is built on good intentions but just like in this country, you just cannot simply hand out money and food without some path for people to get out of these situations which cause them to need a hand out in the first place.

      Report Post » ChiefGeorge  
  • rgundi
    Posted on July 24, 2012 at 1:03pm

    So where are the photo’s of the polar ice caps melting. I would think that would be the first thing global warming supporting NASA would throw up. Maybe because it is not happening? hmmm…….

    Report Post »  
  • Vickie Dhaene
    Posted on July 24, 2012 at 12:33pm

    I think it is terminal. Call Hospice!

    Report Post »  
  • boomboom
    Posted on July 24, 2012 at 12:25pm

    Three Thumbs Way Up…

    Report Post » boomboom  
  • Ron_WA
    Posted on July 24, 2012 at 12:22pm

    This is why birth control is so important …

    Report Post » Ron_WA  
  • Cowboy
    Posted on July 24, 2012 at 12:02pm

    Bring on the satellite photos of continents moving, glaciers forming the Great Lakes and Greenland farmland freezing!!

    Report Post »  
  • JQuentinEvermann
    Posted on July 24, 2012 at 11:52am

    Well we obviously need to all live in mud huts and cut back on eating food and drinking water. The only people who should be allowed to use electricity, have air conditioning, drive cars, shop in stores, etc. are those who are too poor to afford it. If you aren’t on food stamps and receiving Social Security at age 35, YOUR the problem.

    Honestly, if it is all these things that are causing the problem, why don‘t we just cut off the people who can’t afford them? That would be millions of people, overnight, who aren’t burning fossil fuels, using water, eating, farting, breathing. Cut the chaff!

    Report Post » JQuentinEvermann  
  • oldasdirt
    Posted on July 24, 2012 at 11:28am

    To global warming knuckleheads. America has spent trillions on making our pollution less I say it’s time for you to get India,China,Russia to do their part now.Until that happens I don’t want to hear another word about Americas Pollution.

    Report Post » oldasdirt  
    • Redwood Elf
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 11:36am

      Ah, but to the Liberals, Socilalist pollution is GOOD pollution!

      They never want to admit that there is actually MORE forest area today than there was 100 years ago.

      Because trees GROW. But don’t try to convince the liberals of that…

      Report Post » Redwood Elf  
    • NoNannyState4me
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 12:08pm

      There aren’t more trees globally as a result of deforesting the Rain Forests. I’m not a liberal at all, but your statement is incorrect. Of course, you would be correct if we still used annually renewable hemp to make paper and other wood pulp derived products instead of trees.

      Report Post » NoNannyState4me  
    • Matt
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 12:56pm

      no. nonannystate4me. you happen to be both right and wrong.

      While the rainforests of south america ARE smaller to day than they were, its not because of the USA or greedy capitalism. When examining forest areas controlled by the US that are used for logging, MORE trees are there now than were there 50 years ago. More trees are along the east and west coasts than were 50 years ago.

      However, because countries like Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil, are horribly corrupt, cant control their own populations, and are completely apathetic to the environment and their effect on it. (they are all socialist/communist countries not capitalist) THEY HAVE done tons of harmful deforestation. However, even though they have done harmful deforestation, its not a huge problem because the definition of the word “rainforest” is conveniently too expansive. When I say that in the last 100 years over 40% of the rain forests of brazil have been cut away, which they have, that makes it sounds terrible. But that doesnt say that of that 100%. the Amazon rain forest only accounts for about 10% of the total quantity of area once classified as “rainforest”. And that virtually none, or very little, of the amazon has been cut back. And nearly ALL of Brazil was at one point classified as “rainforest”

      What is now Rio de Janeiro, once classified as rainforest
      What is now Sao Paulo, once classified as rainforest

      Source? I spent two years living in Brazil, seeing this firsthand for myse

      Report Post »  
    • ChiefGeorge
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 2:40pm

      Yea! But nobody will say boo to China and their belching of coal smoke into the air.

      Report Post » ChiefGeorge  
    • Puddle Duck
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 8:47pm

      China opens a new coal burning plant every week…none of these plants have the pollution scrubbing tech that the Western plants have, although China talks a good game about pollution control tech it is all a smokescreen (pun intended). Remeber the 2 weeks before the Bejing Olympics commenced ? The city itself went through a massive clean up program but that clean up program could not scrub the air of the brown haze that hangs over it. There were some days (during the games) when many Western journalists were hesistant to go outdoors due the effects of the smog (eyes burning , respiratory distress etc). The point is even with the massive output of C02 and other chemicals into the air (by nations like China,India,Russia) the overall global temp rise this past decade has been only .5 C. According to the (now debunked ) infamous hockey stick graph the globes temp should have risen by 3C by now….. AGW is nothing more than a hoax being used to disguise an ugly agenda….namely UN Agenda 21 protocol which deins a rapid (by any means necessary) drop in global population from it’s current level to 500 million people. A genocide on scale cannot be sold by anything other than the biggest LIES ever told. AGW is but one of the LIES the global elites are using.

      Report Post » Puddle Duck  
  • nocommie
    Posted on July 24, 2012 at 11:15am

    I don’t know about the last 40 years but I do know about the last 3 years.Evil blanketed the whole world when Obama got elected.Everything changed,weather,people,animals,and plant life.We must work very hard to get these evil people out of office,every last one or civilization will not survive

    Report Post » nocommie  
  • cookcountypatriot
    Posted on July 24, 2012 at 11:06am

    i just wasted a good cigarette reading this crap…..global warming is like the smoke i just blew up in the air…noooooooo better yet…its like a fart in the wind…

    Report Post » cookcountypatriot  
  • TomSawyer
    Posted on July 24, 2012 at 10:16am

    Gee I wonder if Al Gore will look at the images and think that we need to send all our money to the UN or one of his climate exchanges to fix the weather?

    Report Post »  
    • Grandpa Dave
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 10:33am

      Al Gore… I haven’t read, seen or heard anything about him in awhile. Did he die? Then again he likes massage parlors with happy endinge, so he’s probably hidding out at parlor somewhere… Don’t you think?

      Report Post » Grandpa Dave  
    • Popp40
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 10:47am

      @Grandpadave…..He is probably out looking for ManBearPig…..

      Report Post »  
  • handsmcml
    Posted on July 24, 2012 at 9:45am

    Cities produce a greater amount of pollution than rural communities, and yet many in the environmental and progressive movements want more and more people to live in urban environments. Instead of centralizing, we should be moving out of the cities and reducing centralized government and planning, we should be relying on more local control. He is governed best who is governed least. We need more individual freedom and less big government pronouncements.

    Report Post » handsmcml  
    • wvernon1981
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 9:52am

      Cities produce greater amounts of localized pollution but tend to be far more resource efficient than rural areas that are spread out. Greater resources are needed to maintain rural communities per capita than cities.

      Report Post »  
    • sWampy
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 9:55am

      Every day is opposites day to the liberal mind.

      Report Post »  
    • caveman74
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 10:14am

      wvern did you have a straight face when you typed that? I grew up in a farming town. Everyone had their own garden (for vegetables, not just for something to do). My Dad is a veteranarian, and a lot of his customers payed with fresh milk, eggs, produce, chickens etc etc etc. and because it was such a long trek just to get to the gas station people only drove when they absolutely had to. When I drive through Portland to go visit my dad I see how that city has grown exponentialy over the past 30 years (crime homelesness pollution and flat out filth included) and yet my hometown while slightly more populated still has the basic principal of self sufficience and efficiency. Liberals can throw all the “per capita” numbers around that they want but when people actually open their eyes and look around they see how the world really works. It must get tiresome to lie about absolutely everything

      Report Post »  
    • loriann12
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 12:27pm

      That‘s because they aren’t really interested in the environment. They want control. And they also put animal life as high or higher than humans. In Agenda 21 you don’t actually think saving American rural areas for “indigineous life” means the Native Americans do you? It means the coyote.

      Report Post »  
    • junkmn
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 1:08pm

      As I see the 3 pictures of the Great salt lake, and the 3 pictures of Mississippi River. It appears to me that the 70s,are in dry season, the mid frames are in a wet season, and the latest tn the 2000s, are back in a dry season. I could be wrong, but this looks a lot like natural evolution to me.

      Report Post »  
  • justasurvivor
    Posted on July 24, 2012 at 9:40am

    It‘s the greatest of man’s arrogance to think man is in charge of the earth.
    The Creator who created the entire Universe must just shake His head – and yet He still loves us and has the greatest of mercy toward us.

    Report Post »  
    • CRiley65
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 11:44am

      I agree with you. Just one breath from God’s nostrils is enough to whip up a tornado or hurricane. I believe in NATURAL global warming (or cooling), as the earth has done so for the 4.5 billion years it’s been here. However I do NOT believe in man-made global warming.
      One volcano on earth, I have read, produces enough climate changing material that it dwarfs man’s by a million times.

      Report Post »  
  • phrogdriver
    Posted on July 24, 2012 at 9:33am

    I’d like for someone to pinpoint for me when, in the past 5 billion years, the earth’s climate has not been changing.

    Report Post » phrogdriver  
    • eagle2715
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 9:51am

      80 of the last 90 years of record (sarcasm)

      Report Post » eagle2715  
    • historyguy48
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 10:57am

      Comrade nothing is now allowed to change because we have been keeping accurate numbers (kind of) since the ancient time of 1855 AD! So, since nothing is allowed to change, by scientific consensus, and it has so it must be mankind that is changing Mother Gaia, because it couldn’t possible be anything else!

      Report Post » historyguy48  
  • Wolverine49457
    Posted on July 24, 2012 at 8:59am

    Environmentalism is modern day Pagan ritual and worship presented as scientific fact to an uninformed multitude with ears eager to be tickled by things that might ease their feelings of guilt.
    The lie is spread and promoted by modern day snack oil salesmen happily lining their pockets with tributes given as offerings on the alter to the god of earth and sky as penance for being and consuming. There is one God and also one Deceiver who wishes to be worshipped like God, upon which alter do you lay your offerings? Narrow is the Gate my friends but wide is the path to destruction!

    Report Post »  
  • theninthplanet
    Posted on July 24, 2012 at 8:37am

    I was kind of geeked out by this. Of course progressives will try and use this to tell us why there needs to be central planning, but what they would call destroying the earth, I’d call it taming. And as we all know, nature has a way of biting back when we get too close…

    Report Post » theninthplanet  
  • Minarchian
    Posted on July 24, 2012 at 8:30am

    Bush did it

    Report Post »  
    • T-2
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 8:48am

      It was both Bushes and Regan. Clinton wasn’t interested in screwing the Earth.

      Report Post »  
  • JUSTANOTHEROPINION
    Posted on July 24, 2012 at 8:19am

    Big deal, so what.

    Report Post »  
  • TROLLMONGER
    Posted on July 24, 2012 at 8:13am

    And yet the ignorant right wingers want to continue to destroy this planet. The Beckbot righties are enemies of the earth.

    Report Post » TROLLMONGER  
    • John 3:16
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 9:55am

      Trollmonger is most certainly a hypocritical mouth piece for Al Gore, the swift boat hero (NOT). Two peas in a pod of hypocrisy. The reason he comes to the Blaze to post his drivlel because the liberal blogs are
      non existent or full of idiots.

      Report Post » John 3:16  
    • sWampy
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 9:57am

      Every day is opposites day to you liberals.

      Report Post »  
    • jocko
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 10:51am

      Too bad your science education stopped at the 6th grade. The universe has been in entropy since its creation – at whatever time you want to believe… billions of years with scientists very limited knowledge and theories or thousands of years with the more believable intelligent design creation ideas.

      No matter, light is slowing, atomic decay rates are slowing, suns are burning out, temperatures are cooling and the universe is winding down while man is devolving. It is the law of the universe, without added energy input, existing energy dissipates and the it is the same low point everywhere. To put it in terms a progressive can understand, it is sort of like socialism… everyone ends up at the same low point.

      Report Post » jocko  
    • THX-1138
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 11:29am

      @TROLLMONGER

      I’d rather be an enemy of Earth than the Earthlings…

      Sic Semper Tyrannis.

      Report Post » THX-1138  
    • Meyvn
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 11:46am

      @John 3:16: You could condense your entire description of Trollmonger to simply…

      “Dumbass”

      Report Post » Meyvn  
    • dblaess
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 5:03pm

      As the rightbots have to live on this planet, why would they want to destroy this planet? You must have grown up on the show Capt. Planet where there were evil people bent on destroying the planet.

      Report Post »  
    • Cavy from VA
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 9:34pm

      Troll … err Oh Progressive one …
      I recall years ago when you went to Mickey D’s and got your Big Mac in a nice styrofoam container … Kept it Hot … Kept it from being mashed all to crap in the bag … THEN the econuts figured out that the damn container would survive 5000 years in the land fill … Oh hell we couldn’t have that … NOOOO we had to get rid of that evil styrofoam (a petroleum product no less) and start wrapping the Big Macs in paper … sooo lets cut down all the friggin trees … pollute the rivers (next to the paper mills) … just because some idiot could dig up a damn styrofoam container centuries from now … DONT ANY OF YOU AS$HOLES TELL ME WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE DAMN ENVIRONMENT … Your too damn bright for me to understand! … I also recall Paul Harvey reporting that if you took all the solid waste landfills in the country and put them all in one place it would take up about as much room as is taken by Jacksonville Florida (approx 900 sq miles) … crap if they still put the styrofoam trash in there it may take over 1000 sq miles!!!! (a pimple on the ass of America!)
      Freakin progressives are all AIRHEADS … every damn one of them!

      TEA!!!!

      Report Post » Cavy from VA  
  • Baddoggy
    Posted on July 24, 2012 at 8:10am

    The problem with enviromentalists is they don’t even realize that God has a plan to destroy the Earth in the end. Not a darn thing they can do about it either. Makes no difference if man does it or plauges alooed by God destroy it….The earth will be destroyyed in the end.

    You think not? Read Revelation…It gets really bad after the rapture….hahahaha

    Report Post » Baddoggy  
    • eagle2715
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 9:54am

      Even if you don’t believe in a God of some sort, the science says Earth is eventually either going to die a fiery death when the sun expands, or a cold one after it burns out….Assuming we don’t get slapped by another meteor/comet…

      Report Post » eagle2715  
    • wvernon1981
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 9:56am

      That’s a sick thing to be happy about: rejoicing in the suffering on earth and eternal torture of billions.

      Report Post »  
    • DeavonReye
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 1:04pm

      wvernon, . . . .SOME people are evil and don’t even realize it.

      Report Post » DeavonReye  
    • ReturnToForever
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 7:31pm

      Believe it or not, some people do not believe in the supernatural.

      Report Post »  
    • ComradeAdam
      Posted on July 25, 2012 at 1:02am

      @returntoforever
      “Believe it or not, some people do not believe in the supernatural.”

      There are more evolutionists than you might think.
      It might be ridiculous to believe rain falling or rocks for millions of years can create life, but thats their belief. Let them believe in any supernatural theory they want. ;) hehe

      Report Post » ComradeAdam  
  • NO_MORE_OBAMA
    Posted on July 24, 2012 at 8:03am

    Compare 1975 to 1776 and I am sure you will see a huge difference then also.

    Non story! Thanks for wasting 5 minutes of my life on this useless panty waste junk.

    Report Post » NO_MORE_OBAMA  
    • DannyM
      Posted on July 24, 2012 at 8:17am

      You’re right, it’s a mega-yawn. And to think our tax dollars went for this.

      Report Post » DannyM  
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