Google’s first major update to its extremely popular mapping software Google Earth was received with great enthusiasm by the company’s fans. The big news about it is the new feature developed for exploring the ocean, which allows users to to view the sea floor terrain in 3D.
The data needed for such a complex project was gathered in collaboration with the US Navy, by more than 25 scientists and ocean explorers. Additional information was received from National Geographic, Cousteau’s Ocean World, BBC and several other such associations that were interested in helping people better understand their environment. Viewers will gain access to a massive amount of information, including facts, figures and history.
"You can not only zoom into whatever part of our planet's surface you wish to examine in closer detail, you can now dive into the world's ocean that covers almost three-quarters of the planet and discover new wonders that had not been accessible in previous versions," stated a very impressed Al Gore, who was invited at the launch event in San Francisco. He also added that the update takes Google Earth to another level, turning it into a "magical experience". He appeared delighted about the program’s capacity to educate the public on many serious threats to the planet, such as global warming and ocean acidification.
Even though the Google Earth 5000 brings a huge amount of new information, providing details about many areas covered by water, there is still a lot of room for improvement, as the company’s goal is to cover the entire globe. Being considered a work in progress, there are many areas that do not offer much detail, showing only general shapes.
Even though at first the focus was set on covering as much of the land as possible, the company’s officials reached the conclusion that the 70 percent of the planet covered by water deserved a better representation in the software.
The update also addresses other issues, bringing in GPS tracking, virtual time travel and narrated tours of imagery and content. The time travel feature lets users access archive satellite images of certain areas, in order to present the evolution of the region over time, process which is linked to climate change and other forces. For example, viewers can how the largest glacier in Glacier National Park melted over the past ten years. The Touring function allows users to create narrated tours on land, above the waters and even below the surface of the sea.
Google’s offer also includes a new interactive 3-D map of Mars that allows viewers to go for a joyride, as if they were in a rocket ship, over the Martian mountains. The topographical information on Mars should be looked at as a bonus, and it was a nice touch, offering viewers a new option and learning tool for their free time.
The new Google Earth will certainly attract even more people interested in finding out the planet’s secrets and might actually make a difference in the fight against global warming.
