NASA satellite imagery provides animation of 'breathing' Earth

It's a view of our planet you've likely never seen: a living, breathing Earth.

Using several satellites, NASA has provided a new view of Earth with 20 years of observations.

The animation illustrates the changing seasons, from a snow-covered Canada to the waning and waxing ice of the Arctic and Antarctic.

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"These are incredibly evocative visualizations of our living planet," Gene Carl Feldman, an oceanographer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center said in a statement. "That's the Earth, that is it breathing every single day, changing with the seasons, responding to the Sun, to the changing winds, ocean currents and temperatures."

Variations are seen around the globe from the changing seasons to phytoplankton blooms, which provide food to birds, fish and other marine life. 

The scientists note that the impacts of a rapidly warming Arctic can also be seen. Specifically, the satellite illustrates how the tundra in Quebec as well as western Alaska is turning greener as shrubs move northward.

NASA said the data allows scientists to better analyze long-term trends around the planet.