If there is one fact about life that rings true no matter who you are, or where you live, it is that the world is in a constant state of change. Nature obviously has its own set of changes both through evolution and the planet's reactionary changes based on both internal and external forces. The other constantly changing thing about our home planet is mankind. Since the dawn of our existence here humans have affected our landscapes by tearing down and terraforming, as well as building and constructing new things. Roads, towns, buildings, rivers, and even the weather are just a few of the things we have impacted as a species.

History is full of surprises, and these before and after photos demonstrate just how crazy some of those surprises can be. Have fun scrolling through these pics and maybe you'll learn a thing or two.

It's interesting to think how exponentially fast human progress has become. Just a few decades ago the world was a very different place.