[MGSA-L] New Version of Google Earth Offers 3D Glimpse of Trees Worldwide

[June Samaras]

.... not just the swimming pools in Athens, but now the "olive groves
in Greece "

Having better Google views of the building encroachments in Greek
forests should provide some fun <,g>


June S
=======================

New Version of Google Earth Offers 3D Glimpse of Trees Worldwide

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS258267826920101201


Wed Dec 1, 2010 11:11am EST

The latest version of Google Earth provides a 3D view of trees, an
innovation that Google officials say will emerge as a forestry
planning tool for governments, environmentalists, and indigenous
peoples. While earlier versions of the software showed forest cover
from a bird's eye view worldwide, Google Earth 6 takes users beneath
the canopy level to explore more than 50 different tree species, from
olive groves in Greece to patches of bamboo in the Amazon.

Google officials say they are working with different groups to use the
software in conservation and reforestation projects, including efforts
to map coastal mangrove forests in Mexico and the modeling of forest
restoration projects in Kenya. "We want to make sure we're adding in
more information to make the planet more alive and more complete,"
Peter Birch, Google Earth product manager, told Reuters. So far,
Google has mapped 80 million trees in seven cities worldwide -
including San Francisco, Chicago, Tokyo, and Athens - and in a section
of rainforest in the Brazilian Amazon.

Reprinted with permission from Yale Environment 360

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June Samaras
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