Space programs are often concerned with what's happening "out there" in the universe, a large portion of what space agencies like NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) do is monitor what is happening on the surface of the Earth. This includes keeping track of things like weather, but also human-induced drivers of global warming such as the emissions of greenhouse gasses, deforestation and changes in seasonal ice coverage in Arctic and Antarctic regions. That's important because research has shown human activities are indeed the primary drivers of climate change.
Since 1972, the U.S Geological Survey Landsat Earth Observation satellites have been providing scientists and policy makers with up to date data on a range of features of Earth's surface, and the picture being painted is a grim one. Earth's surface is changing rapidly: polar ice caps are shrinking, highly biodiverse areas are being destroyed , and oceans are growing increasingly polluted, among a raft of other environmental changes.
