A new vision of climate change through Google Earth
19 May 2008
 Millions of Google Earth users around the world can now see
how climate change could affect the planet and its people over the next century.
Climate Change In Our World takes you on a journey across the globe, showing
temperatures over the next hundred years. It also tells the stories of people,
living in
some of the world’s poorest countries, who are already being affected by changing
weather patterns.
Follow this
 link
to Google Earth to begin exploring Climate Change In Our World. See
the instructions, below, to help you get started.
Google Earth lets you fly anywhere on Earth to view satellite imagery, maps,
terrain, and 3D buildings. If you haven't used Google Earth before, you can
download
it from here.
Climate Change in Our World is the product of a unique collaboration between
DFID, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Met
Office Hadley Centre, the British Antarctic Survey and Google. Reflecting the
most recent information available about the likely impacts of climate change, it
was launched by Prime Minister Gordon Brown at the Google Zeitgeist conference
today.
Read
the joint press release on Defra's website. Also,
watch
a Flash demonstration of Climate Change In Our World.
Impacts around the world
 People in developing countries are already being hit hard by changes in the
weather. Visit Climate Change In Our World to find out
how, from Ghana to Guatemala, poor people are trying to cope with disasters such
as drought, floods and melting glaciers.
You can also read our stories from
around the world here:
- Nepal: Watching the glaciers melt – first hand
- Nepal: Surviving mud and landslides
- Bangladesh: River island
living
- Bangladesh: Life, land and property devastated by Cyclone Sidr
- Mozambique: Droughts, floods and higher temperatures bring more
disease to city life
- Ghana: Destroyed by floods and droughts
- Guatemala: Drought, mud slides and later harvests add to
hardships in remote highlands
- India: Trapped by drought and debt
- Malawi: Flood-hit children start taking action
- Sudan: Conflict and climate change
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Opening the KML file on the
Google
Earth Outreach page will take you to Climate Change In Our World. In the
main Google Earth window, clicking on the "play" button to the left of the
timeline bar will activate an animation showing temperature changes over the
next hundred years.
During the animation, push-pin icons
will appear over selected points on the Earth. Click on these icons to open
pop-up boxes containing more information about the impacts of climate change in
the developing world. Move the hand cursor or use the navigation controls to fly
anywhere on the planet to investigate further.
The
Google
Earth Help Centre provides more details about getting the most from Google
Earth.
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Climate change and people in poverty
 DFID is committed to helping poor countries tackle climate change. It is the
world’s poorest people who are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
Through development we can help deal with climate change effectively. This means
building low-carbon economies and ensuring that poor countries are prepared for
the effects of changing weather patterns.
But it is crucial that we address climate change in a way that doesn’t neglect -
or even prevent - the right of developing countries to grow their way out of
poverty. Prosperity is the best protection against climate change.
Countries
with well-educated people, with good infrastructure and health systems, and with
the wealth to cope with climatic shocks will be the best prepared. And this will
help protect more people’s lives and livelihoods.
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