Google Earth 5 splashes into the sea

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 3 Feb 2009 at 07:55

Google has launched version 5 of its Google Earth software, which includes the widely-trailed Ocean feature.

Ocean allows users to dive below the surface and examine deep-sea photography of underwater mountains, famous shipwrecks and other marine hotspots.

The feature brings 20 new content layers to the Google software, including information on marine preservation, whale tracking and data on fish stocks in waters around the world.

Google, which invited eco-evangelist Al Gore to the launch event, says the Ocean feature will help further our knowledge of the underwater environment.

"In discussions about climate change, the world's oceans are often overlooked despite being an integral part of the issue," claims Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

"About one-third of the carbon dioxide that we emit into the atmosphere ends up in the oceans. 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 is so important - it gives us an opportunity to change everyone's perspective."

Google claims the Ocean feature contains imagery and data from more than 80 organisations, which probably explains why news of the Ocean feature leaked last month.

Other new features included in Google Earth 5 include "virtual time travel" - a chance to view past satellite photography to see how the area has changed over time.

A 3D tour of Mars and the chance to create your own narrated tours of Google Earth are other newcomers.