The comparative between these two satellite images, taken three decades apart by NASA, shows the paving over of Jakarta’s metropolitan area and the loss of green spaces, a process that directly contributes to the rapid sinking experienced by Indonesia’s capital.

If you want to learn more about Jakarta’s relationship with water and why the city is sinking, you can visit our in-depth report: The Most Expensive Dirty Water in the World.

1990: Thematic Mapper on the Landsat 5 satellite.
2019: image was taken by the Operational Land Imager on the Landsat 8 satellite.
Source: NASA’s Earth Observatory.