Since 1972, the U.S Geological Survey Landsat Earth Observation satellites have been providing scientists and policy makers with up to date data on a range of features of Earth’s surface, and the picture being painted is a grim one. Earth’s surface is changing rapidly: polar ice caps are shrinking, highly biodiverse areas are being destroyed , and oceans are growing increasingly polluted, among a raft of other environmental changes.
However, given the volume and availability of data that satellites have captured informing us of the ongoing impacts of human activity on Earth’s surface, an important question has to be asked — why has this knowledge not led to large-scale environmental action?
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