The latest version of
Google Earth allows users to
explore beneath the
ocean surface, go back in history, visit Mars and use GPS to
plan their own routes.
Google Earth 5.0, which was launched yesterday, has 3D content
to describe underwater terrain and lets users browse ocean-related
content contributed by top oceanographers and conservationists.
The Historical Imagery feature enables users to travel back in
time using archival satellite and aerial imagery. Another new
feature, Touring, makes it easy to create a narrated tour in Google
Earth and share it with the world, and Google Mars 3D features high
resolution imagery and terrain maps of the red planet.
Launching the software, former presidential candidate and now
eco-warrior Al Gore said, the virtual diving experience it offered
was a “magical experience”.
"The history lets you see for yourself the unprecedented pace
of change taking place on the Earth – largely because of human
influences. For example, you can watch the melting of the largest
glacier in Glacier National Park – the Grinnell Glacier – image by
image, for the last decade," he said.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt said the oceans were usually ignored in
discussions on climate change, but were integral to it. "About
one-third of the carbon dioxide that we emit into the atmosphere
ends up in the oceans,” he said. “Furthermore, biodiversity loss in
our oceans in the next 20-30 years will be roughly equivalent to
losing an entire Amazon rainforest, but this goes unnoticed because
we can't see it. This is why today's launch of Google Earth 5.0 is
so important - it gives us an opportunity to change everyone's
perspective."
The Ocean feature is on by default in the newest version of
Google Earth. As users zoom in on the ocean they will see a dynamic
water surface. Once they dive in, they can navigate 3D sea floor
terrain.
The feature includes 20 content layers of information. These
include a National Geographic Magazine geo-quiz and overlays from
their new Atlas of the Ocean, and unseen videos from pioneering
oceanographer Jacques Cousteau.
John Hanke, director of Google Earth and Maps, said it former
cursory treatment of the oceans was a serious mistake he was happy
to fix. This version had helped him understand the role the ocean
plays in global climate change and the impact that humans have on
the oceans and sea creatures. “We now have a good substrate for
publishing and exploring data about the 'other' two-thirds of the
planet."
With the History feature, users can activate a time slider to
see both newer and older satellite imagery from around the globe.
This lets them see a single location's development over time.
Touring is a simple new way for users to create narrated tours
of imagery and content in Google Earth. By pressing the Record
button, users can fly from place to place, zoom and click on
content balloons that provide voice-over narration along the
way.
Google Mars 3D is the latest stop on Google's virtual tour of
the galaxy. Users can travel to Mars with the click of a button and
see high resolution imagery and 3D terrain. They can fly to the top
of Olympus Mons, the tallest volcano in our solar system, read
geo-located excerpts about different locations on the planet from A
Traveler's Guide to Mars, see where various Mars Rovers and Landers
have touched down, and more.
Google has also made GPS Tracking, previously only available in
the Plus and Pro versions of Google Earth, a standard feature. Now
all users can upload tracks from GPS devices (including many
Garmin, Magellan, and NMEA-compatible devices) to Google Earth,
making it easy to visualise and record running, hiking and biking
routes. It has also increased he number of languages it comes in
from 26 to 41.