The present disclosure provides a method, an apparatus, a computing device and a computer readable storage medium for detecting an environmental change, and relates to the field of autonomous driving. The method obtains a global map for an area and a first local map built in real time for a sub-area in the area; and determines an environmental change in the first sub-area by comparing the first local map and the global map and determining a first probability of the environmental change. Techniques of the present disclosure can automatically detect environmental changes that affect the positioning of autonomous driving, thereby facilitating the updating of positioning maps.