Big Cities from Space – Approximately 1985 Compared to 2010

CNN: The past century has been defined by an enormous migration of people from rural areas into cities. In 2008, for the first time ever, more of the Earth’s population was living in cities than in the countryside. The United Nations predicts that 70% of the global population will be living in cities by year 2050.

Looking back through the decades, these snapshots from space reveal the impact of this vast population shift on cities around the world.

Watch before-after slides at CNN