Around the globe, mining has carved massive holes into Earth’s surface. In other places, huge mounds of trash tower several stories high. Tangles of roads crisscross the ground, and land once covered by trees has been stripped bare.
Humans’ impact on Earth’s landscape is staggering. But the extent of these changes can be hard to see without a bird’s-eye view. “Observing Earth from high above helps us identify patterns we wouldn’t see if we were just standing on the ground,” says Ruth DeFries, an ecologist at Columbia University in New York City. She analyzes satellite photos to learn how much of Earth is covered by forests, farmland, and cities.
Technology has allowed humans to make big changes to the planet’s surface, at a similar scale as geological forces like volcanoes and earthquakes, says DeFries. Some geologists have even proposed that we’re living in a new geological epoch called the Anthropocene. The name for this suggested unit of time comes from the Greek words for “man” (anthropo) and “new” (cene). Take a look at some dramatic ways people have reshaped Earth’s landscape and the toll these changes have had on the environment.