30 terrifying before and after images of climate change

Climate change may feel more real than ever, but the effects of Earth's rising temperatures were present long before 2017's busy hurricane season.

See 30 before and after images of climate change viewed from space. less Climate change may feel more real than ever, but the effects of Earth's rising temperatures were present long before 2017's busy hurricane season.

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Years from now, Hurricane Harvey may be remembered as the first major storm that signaled the arrival of climate change that scientists predicted for decades.

Already, the trio of deadly hurricanes that made landfall in the U.S. during the 2017 season — Harvey, Irma, and Maria — are being associated with the effects of rising temperatures.

In a September article by National Geographic, every scientist contacted by the magazine was in agreement that Harvey's destructive rainfall was "almost certainly driven up by temperature increases from human carbon-dioxide emissions."

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For cities devastated by this year's hurricanes, there's little doubt that climate change has begun to feel more palpable.

Even Republicans voters, whose party has long denied human-caused climate change, have shown increased concern for global warming when polled after Harvey and Irma.

Still, signs of Earth's shifting climate were present even before this year's tragic hurricanes.

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An ongoing project by NASA called "Images of Change" has been tracking changes in Earth's landscapes when viewed from space. The transformation of the planet, some of it occurring over a period of years or decades, offers a sobering look at how climate change is present with us even if its effects appear invisible day after day.

See 30 terrifying before and after images of climate change above.