Robert Bryne, who was an interesting combination of author and billiards champion, once said “Everything is in a state of flux,” and he was right. Our planet is constantly changing — just think about the weather, the seasons, day and night, the tides, volcanoes, earthquakes, ice ages and periods of warming and cooling — as a result of both natural and man-made effects. Sometimes nothing tracks these changes better than a picture or two.

That’s why we’re launching a brand spanking new image gallery, called State of Flux. Each week we’ll be featuring time-lapse images of different locations on planet Earth, showing change over time periods ranging from centuries to days. The pictures come from a range of intrepid explorers: Victorian photographers, astronauts on the International Space Station and NASA satellites taking snapshots of the Earth.

We start with Pedersen Glacier in Alaska, which has retreated significantly since the beginning of the 20th century. Enjoy and be sure to check back for new and stunning images of change.