Google has a heart for the environment by working alongside a bunch of researchers from the University of Maryland, NASA and the USGS. This collaborative effort would see the first high-resolution map of global deforestation being brought to life with the use of their very own Google Earth Engine. It is an immense effort, especially when you consider how this particular project was developed using more than a decade’s worth of Landsat images which showcases global land use changes in a manner where the public, NGOs and governments worldwide are able to learn more concerning various forestry practices, and along the way, will hopefully do its bit to reduce unwanted deforestation.
Lead author Matthew Hansen, Professor of Geological Sciences at the University of Maryland, said, “People will use this data in ways we can’t even imagine today.” Do you think that this particular tool will allow folks to be more aware on the amount of deforestation that is happening in the world, that their consciousness will be pricked to do something about it? This tool actually analyzed a whopping 654,178 Landsat images, and thanks to the massive gains made in CPU technology that such a high-resolution map (that can be scaled down to 30 meters to boot) was able to come to fruition.
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