Rumors have been circulating on the Internet for months that Google was going to start using its Google Earth program, which allows users to see almost every place on earth from different satellite images, to help out the rainforest.Â
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The Surui tribe in Brazil has seen their land, a natural rainforest, being slowly destroyed by miners and loggers who want the natural rich area for their own advantage. Google will update the satellite pictures of this area more often than in other areas of the world, allowing the tribe to see changes to the area.Â
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You may be saying that you could track any changes without Google’s help, and the answer is yes, but it is also no. Google is going to provide very high resolution images of the area. These images are high enough in resolution that you would be able to detect changes in the color of the rivers, which would indicate a change in nutrients that are the results of mining in the area. They suspect that you will be able to find even the smallest of mines, which will help in enforcing the no mining rules. The area is rich in gold, so it should help to protect the area.
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This isn’t the first time that Google Earth has been used to help an environmental problem. Google Earth has been used to find illegal logging on the Chinese-Burmese border and has also been used to track the movement of chimpanzees in Tanzania.
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It’s a no-brainer that this is a great thing to help out the environment in South America. In the future what else do you think that Google Earth can help with? For now, the animals in the rainforest can have a bit more protection from a company on the other side of the equator.Â
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