Benjamin Grant - Overview Timelapse: How We Change the Earth

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank

Hannah, Kaitlin, Betsy, Ashley, Jane, Mari, and everyone at Ten Speed Pressfor your continued confidence in the power of this perspective.

Kirsten and Maxar Technologiesfor being our first partners on this project and for all of the ways you help us provide a new vantage point.

Tony and Nearmapfor your willingness to help us tell the best story possible.

Manos, Erwan, and ESAfor all the research you have done to help us bring the power of time into these images.

Robbie, Trevor, and Planetfor providing the bigger picture that helped us complete this story.

Gopal, Chris, and the Google Earth teamfor creating an incredible tool to bring this medium to many more people.

Trevorfor teaching us how to bring these stories to life.

Eli and Kirafor your collaboration, which helps to keep this project going.

Ben would like to thank

My parents and familyfor your ongoing support and love. Without you, none of this would be possible.

Timfor believing in this project and for joining me to create and tell this story.

Patfor the brainstorms and endless inspiration.

Patrick and Katyafor helping me find a home.

Grahamfor your unwavering criticism and mentorship.

Annafor helping me realize that time is all we have.

The Pasternaksfor the home away from home.

Tim would like to thank

Kellyfor taking an interest in everything I do.

Nathanfor your sensibility and uncanny ability to help clarify thoughts.

Hannahfor your spirit, support, and patience over the years.

Ben A.for being a voice of reason in this world.

Colton and Joefor laying the foundation to pursue the unknown.

Pete and Timfor listening to any and all ideas and providing the critique only possible from great friends.

About the Authors

Benjamin Grant is the author of Overview: A New Perspective of Earth and Overview: Young Explorers Edition. Those books and this one take their inspiration from the project Overview, which he founded in 2013. Large-format prints from the project have been displayed around the world with noteworthy exhibitions in Munich, San Francisco, New York, Tel Aviv, Los Angeles, Barcelona, and Sweden. Benjamin graduated from Yale University, where he studied history and art history and rowed on the heavyweight crew team. He lives and rides his bike in San Francisco.

Timothy Dougherty started working with Overview in 2016, focusing on partnerships and content strategy. He has contributed writing on urbanization from the Overview perspective for the Breakthrough Journal. He graduated from Georgetown University, where he studied finance at the McDonough School of Business. Originally from Philadelphia, Tim currently resides in San Francisco where he enjoys the outdoors.

About Overview

Overview uses satellite and aerial imagery to demonstrate how human activity and natural forces shape our Earth. This perspective provides a powerful look at the planet where we live and the civilization we are creating. Through our books, products, and collaborations, we aim to inspire the Overview Effectthe cognitive shift experienced by astronauts who look back at Earth and report feelings of overwhelming awe and amplified appreciation for the planet we call home.

Check out our other books:

Follow along @dailyoverview on Instagram, where new images are posted daily.

To subscribe to our daily post, order prints, or license imagery, visit over-view.com

Image Credits

Westminster, Colorado, USA

Source imagery Maxar Technologies

Maxar Technologies is the provider of the worlds highest-resolution satellite imagery. They operate a constellation of four satellites that have a maximum resolution of 30cm, meaning 1 pixel in the image equals 30 centimeters square on the ground. The approximate altitude of their satellites is 383 miles (617 kilometers) above the earth.

39.912597, -105.002713

(Cover): Occidental Glacier

: Bingham Canyon Mine

: Colorado River

: Lake Natron

: Hunga TongaHunga Haapai Formation

: Boca Raton

: Eixample District, Barcelona

: Shanghai City Center

: Delhi Neighborhoods

: New York City

: Central Park

: Bahrain Land and Waterway Development

: Kibera

: Venice

: Playa del Carmen Seafront

: Tappan Zee Bridge

: Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX)

: Volkswagen Wolfsburg Plant

: Port of Bremerhaven

: Suez Canal

: Port of Singapore

: Qatar Interchange Redesign

: Train Stations Along Thalys 9424

: Central de Abasto

: Rimini Beach Umbrellas

: Glastonbury Festival

: Burning Man

: Shopping Mall Conversion into Fulfillment Center

: Sudokwon Landfill Buildup

: Bingham Canyon Mine

: The Blue Lagoon

: Pivot Irrigation Sprinkler

: Saudi Arabia Pivot Irrigation Expansion

: San Francisco Bay Area

: San Francisco Bay Salt Ponds

: Nanri Island Aquaculture / Offshore Wind Farm

: Aral Sea Basin

: Kazakhstan Cotton Farming

: New Bullards Bar Reservoir Drought Recovery

: Merowe Dam

: Deforestation in Bolivia

: Blooming Dutch Tulips

: Spanish Greenhouse Construction

: Fantanele-Cogealac Wind Farm

: Ouarzazate Solar Power Station Construction

: Noor III Solar Concentrator

: Cattle Feedlot Expansion

: Amazon Slash and Burn

: Rondonia Deforestation Pattern

: Sumatra Deforestation

: Sumatra Palm Oil Plantation

: Oregon Clearcutting

: Qinhuangdao Coal Terminal

: Salar de Uyuni

: Gigafactory 1

: Olympic Dam Mine

: Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station

: Janschwalde Surface Mine

: Janschwalde Power Station

: Florida Phosphate Mine

: Kansas Wheat Production

: Paragominas Bauxite Mine

: Binzhou Aluminum Factory

: Aluminum Roofing in Ansan

: Brumadinho Dam Collapse

: Paraopeba River Contamination

: Distant Contamination

: Wisconsin Sand Mine

: Oklahoma Fracking Wells

: Petrochemical Factory and Plastics Production

: Athabasca Oil Sands Expansion

: Camp Fire Aftermath

: Cape Town Water Crisis

: Nebraska / Iowa Flooding

(left): Oroville Dam Spillway Rupture

: Yakutia Permafrost Melt

: Columbia Glacier Recession

: Greenland Ice Sheet Early Melting

: Antarctic Sea Ice Melt

: Esperanza Base

: Oosterscheldekering

: Wuhan Lockdown

: Wuhan Hospital Construction

: Social Distancing Measures

: Abandonment of Deir ez-Zor

: ZaatariJordan

: KilisTurkey

: RoszkeHungary / Serbia Border

: MoriaGreece

: Victorian Desalination Plant

: Great Green Wall of Africa

: The Sustainable City

: California Flats Solar Project

: Apple Park ()