New interactive time-lapse photos from Google Earth show you how climate change is affecting the planet.

Just in time for Earth Day, the time-lapse photos offer a glimpse into the extreme environmental changes that have occurred over nearly four decades. Experts hope the images will touch people by showing them firsthand the real challenges the planet will face if humans collectively continue on this path.

“[This project] has the power to shape public understanding of what's at stake when we talk about climate change,” Dr. Zeke Baker, assistant professor of sociology at Sonoma State University, told Lifewire over the phone.

“It's an impressive project that probably only a technology company like Google can pull off.”