U.N. official L.Craig Johnstone unveiled Googles new software program that puts the spotlight on millions who have fled their homes because of hardship and violence.” All the things we do for refugees around the world will be more visible.” said Johsntone at a lunch in Geneva. Users can download Google Earth to see satellite images of Darfur, Iraq, and Colombia. Information provided by the U.N. refugee agency explains where the refugees have come from and what problems they face. Users can even zoom in closely on some of the refugee camps. In the Djabal refugee camp in eastern Chad which is home to refugees from Dafur, Google Earth users can see clusters of individual of tents on the arid landscape and learn about the difficulty of providing water for 15, 000 people.
The soft ware was originally intended for realistic video games, but its use for Katrina rescuers led the company to reach out to government and non profit agencies. Google has since teamed up with dozens of nonprofit groups helping to raise awareness, recruit volunteers and encourage donations. Among them the Holocaust Memorial Museum, the U.N.Enviormental Program and Jane Goodall Institute.
“Google wants to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful to all people.” said Samuel Widmann, the head of Google Earth Europe. The company estimated 80% of the world’s information can be plotted on the map.
Rebecca Moore, who heads the Google Earth Outreach program for nonprofit groups, said the company does not control the information published using the software.
nice article Ruby,
we can now at least see what’s really happening on some desolate places like Chad.thanks for sharing
Wow, this is a real eye-opener.
I love Google Earth and the implications of its uses are very far reaching. I had not thought of using to see these places, thanks for the enlightenment.
I never thought of using Google Earth to see what it going on in the world. Thanks for bringing this to my attention. The camp is a lot larger than I thought it would be.
Thank you all for stopping by and leaving your comments. Google Earth is a wonderful thing. We can have a birds eye of what is going on in some parts of the wodrld that we didn’ty have before.You guys take care.
Ruby thank you for sharing this new feature. Aren’t computers amazing?
I wouldn’t take a pretty penny for my Google Earth. If you give me your address I will be looking at your house.
I can’t download Google Earth on my computer. Guess I need a new one.
Google Earth is a wonder.It would be hard to imagine what we can see sitting at our computers.