It’s the year 2015 and we’re accustomed to seeing images of Earth from space. But advancements in satellite technology continue to yield profound new ways of looking at our home from afar. For example, NASA put together some stunning composite images of our planet as part of its Blue Marble: Next Generation photography endeavor. By combining thousands of photos, they’ve created a view of our planet without any obstruction from clouds. There are images for each month of the year. When you cycle through these images, something remarkable happens. The first part of this video is made using these unaltered NASA images—no effects are involved.

The second part uses those same images, combined with data from the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) regarding the projected warming of Earth and the shrinking of the arctic ice cap. This combination of NASA and GFDL data reveals something unsettling about the next 100 years. Luckily, there’s something we can do about it. Humankind has the unique ability to see into the future, as demonstrated by these visual projections. It’s a special gift that our species has. The question is, what will we choose to do with this knowledge?

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