Kudos to Google

Google has just launched version 5.0 of Google Earth, which includes detailed ocean data that allows a user to virtually dive under the water and see what is beneath without getting wet!

It has a “historical imagery” that features a time slider of satellite data for a location over time. This gives an idea of how the planet’s features are changing over time. Al Gore used the time slider feature to show the disappearance of the glaciers over time. He hopes people will use Google Earth to see the reality of what is happening with climate change.

The environmental cause has already been served by Google Earth Outreach section that allows organizations to create a variety of information layers on top of Google Earth, making that data publicly available and easily visualized.

The new version of Google Earth allows users to click on video clips of hydrothermal vents, read up on which seafoods are being harvested unsustainably, look at marine dead zones and sanctuaries and the like. But as Andy Revkin poses the question, is this going to make surfers any more eco-conscious?

Or will it be one more toy to engage us for some time? Remember when Google Earth first launched how we all scrambled to zoom into it for a view of our homes and workplaces?!

An interesting aside is how BirdLife used Google Earth and ended up finding three new species of butterfly, one new species of snake, and seven threatened species of birds. The team chanced upon an unmapped region in southern Africa and an expedition to this place led to the discoveries.

Again, an interesting question posed by TreeHugger, and we second that: is it a good idea for biodiversity hotspots to catch world attention? See what happened to Darwin’s Galapagos island where introduction of foreign species by visitors have caused the extinction of native species. Sometimes, it does seem like ignorance is bliss, for some!

All the same, one has to give it to Google for the many ways it is serving information on a platter to the seeker.