Climate & Environmental Change Monitoring
Map deforestation, coastline erosion, ice sheet retreat, wildfire spread, and habitat loss as they unfold over time. Make environmental change visible and urgent.
Overview
Environmental change is inherently geographic and temporal. Forests shrink, coastlines erode, glaciers retreat, and wildfire boundaries shift from year to year. Communicating the speed and scale of these changes is critical for advocacy, funding applications, and policy decisions — but traditional charts and reports often fail to convey the urgency.
Moving Polygons lets environmental researchers, NGOs, and sustainability consultants animate geographic change over time. Draw the boundary of a forest in 1990, then again in 2000, 2010, and 2020 — the platform generates a smooth animation showing exactly how deforestation progressed. Overlay protected areas, species ranges, and infrastructure boundaries to reveal correlations that static maps can't show.
The visual impact of these animations is powerful in grant applications, impact reports, and public communications. A two-minute animation showing 30 years of ice sheet retreat communicates more urgency than a table of measurements. Publish your maps with a unique URL and share them with donors, policymakers, or the public.
How It Works
Trace Environmental Boundaries
Draw the extent of a forest, glacier, coastline, or habitat zone at a specific point in time. Use satellite imagery as a visual reference for accuracy.
Add Historical Snapshots
Create additional timestamped states for each year or decade you want to represent. The platform smoothly interpolates between them to show gradual environmental change.
Publish for Impact
Share the animated map in grant proposals, reports, or public campaigns. The visual impact of watching 30 years of change in 30 seconds is far more persuasive than any chart.
Platform Features
Time-Lapse Animation
Define environmental boundaries at multiple points in time and watch the platform generate smooth transitions between them, creating an automated time-lapse effect.
Multi-Layer Overlay
Place multiple polygon groups on the same map — for example, forest coverage alongside protected area boundaries — to see how they interact over time.
Playback Controls
Viewers can play, pause, and scrub the timeline to examine specific moments in the environmental change sequence. Loop the animation for exhibit or presentation use.
Rich Social Previews
When you share a published map link on social media or in emails, recipients see an automatically generated preview image showing the map content.
Why Teams Choose Moving Polygons
Map Environmental Shifts Over Time
Track deforestation, coastline changes, and habitat loss year by year with precise geographic boundaries.
Support Grant Applications
Include compelling animated visuals in research proposals, impact reports, and funding applications.
Communicate Urgency Clearly
Show stakeholders and the public how rapidly environments are changing with smooth, time-lapse-style animations.
Overlay Multiple Boundaries
Combine different environmental zones — protected areas, deforestation fronts, species ranges — to reveal correlations.
Who This Is For
What You Could Create
- Amazon deforestation progression since 1970
- Arctic ice sheet retreat by decade
- Wildfire burn areas in California (2015-2025)
- Coral reef coverage decline in the Great Barrier Reef
Frequently Asked Questions
Explore More Use Cases
Ready to Get Started?
Create your first animated map in minutes. No credit card required.