These confronting before and after photos of shrinking glaciers and disappearing lakes may well change your mind.
The images released by NASA's climate change arm reveal just how much our world has changed — some in months, others over years.
From the whiting event in Lake Kivu in Central Africa, to a flooding Mississippi River in the US, the before and after photos reveal startling changes in some places across the world, some in the space of just a few short years.
Other dramatic pictures reveal the effects of fire and flooding.
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| Shrinking Mýrdalsjökull ice cap, Iceland shown from 1986 to 2014 (right). Source: NASA |
Glaciers also come up for mention with Alaska's Columbia Glacier a particular cause for concern.
The glacier which descends through the Chugach Mountains into Prince William Sound used to extend to the northern edge of Heather Island, near the mouth of Columbia Bay in the 1700s.
But in 1980 it began a rapid retreat and according to NASA has now "thinned so much that the up and down motion of the tides affects its flow as much as 12km upstream, until the glacier bed rises above sea level and the ice loses contact with the ocean."
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| Growing Wax Lake Outlet, Louisiana pictured in November 1984 to October 25, 2014 Most of the Mississippi River delta plain is losing ground. Source: Supplied |
The agency said the before and after images not only aimed to show the impacts of climate change but also highlighted the destruction caused by wildfires and floods.
The pictures also show the retreat of glaciers as well as the human impact on urban areas due to population growth.
The gallery, which features dozens of images across the globe, also allows people to zoom in on their own area to see what changes are taking place around them.
Some of the images are just days old, showing recent impacts.
While scientists have been warning about the danger of the Earth warming up for years, climate change sceptics claim it's a myth.
These images may put that into perspective.
It wouldn't be the first time NASA has revealed a frightening future for the planet.
Just last year NASA also warned sea levels will rise by a metre over the next century.
Experts predicted an ice sheet the size of Queensland is melting faster than expected which could cause massive storm surges capable of decimating Australia's coastal cities within the next century.
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| Mustang Complex Fire, Idaho pictured in July 2012 to September 2012 The Mustang Complex Fire, sparked by a lightning strike on July 30, 2012, has consumed more than 330,000 acres of the Salmon-Challis National Forest in northeastern Idaho. Source: Supplied |
Scientists said satellite images revealed large sections of Greenland and Antarctica are vanishing at a much faster rate than previously anticipated, and predict sea levels will rise even further than originally thought.
The stark warnings from NASA are echoed by the World Bank which on Wednesday issued a warning that the world is underprepared for major risks posed by extreme weather and other hazards.
It warned by 2050, 1.3 billion people and $217 trillion in assets will be affected by worsening river and coastal floods.
The World Bank also predicted this will only get worse with rising population growth and migration.
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| Licungo River flooding, Mozambique February 1, 2014 — January 17, 2015. Weeks of heavy rainfall capped by a particularly strong tropical disturbance caused the Licungo and other rivers in Mozambique's Zambezia province to flood. Source: NASA's Earth Observatory |
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