Google Earth’s ocean layer is now available on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, reports Google in a blog post.
Users of Apple mobile devices can now explore underwater landscapes and terrain. The ocean layer features video and pictures from more than 100 contributors curated by the Sylvia Earle Alliance. Earle is a renowned oceanographer and author who today focuses on marine conservation.
Google says the tool provides users with a new look at the world’s oceans.
Vampire squid profile on Google Earth Oceans for the iPad. |
“Dive below the ocean’s surface to explore underwater canyons, or travel to the ocean’s deepest point, the Mariana Trench,” writes Peter Birch, a prodcuct manager for Google Earth, the blog post. “Once underwater, simply swipe the screen with two fingers to ‘look around.'”
Google Earth also features layers that highlight other ecosystems including tropical forests. A number of environmental groups now use the tool for campaigning. Last month, the Amazon Watch and International Rivers, used a Google Earth-based animation to show the potential of the planned Belo Monte Dam in the Amazon.
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Development of Google Earth a watershed moment for the environment
(03/31/2009) Satellites have long been used to detect and monitor environmental change, but capabilities have vastly improved since the early 1970s when Landsat images were first revealed to the public. Today Google Earth has democratized the availability of satellite imagery, putting high resolution images of the planet within reach of anyone with access to the Internet. In the process, Google Earth has emerged as potent tool for conservation, allowing scientists, activists, and even the general public to create compelling presentations that reach and engage the masses. One of the more prolific developers of Google Earth conservation applications is David Tryse. Neither a scientist nor a formal conservationist, Tryse’s concern for the welfare of the planet led him develop a KML for the Zoological Society of London’s EDGE of Existence program, an initiative to promote awareness of and generating conservation funding for 100 of the world’s rarest species. The KML allows people to surf the planet to see photos of endangered species, information about their habitat, and the threats they face. Tryse has since developed a deforestation tracking application, a KML that highlights hydroelectric threats to Borneo’s rivers, and oil spills and is working on a new tool that will make it even easier for people to create visualizations on Google Earth. Tryse believes the development of Google Earth is a watershed moment for conservation and the environmental movement.
Photos: Google Earth used to find new species
(12/22/2008) Scientists have used Google Earth to find a previously unknown trove of biological diversity in Mozambique, reports the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew. Scouring satellite images via Google Earth for potential conservation sites at elevations of 1600 meters or more, Julian Bayliss a locally-based conservationist, in 2005 spotted a 7,000-hectare tract of forest on Mount Mabu. The scientifically unexplored forest had previously only been known to villagers. Subsequent expeditions in October and November this year turned up hundreds of species of plants and animals, including some that are new to science.