New Google Earth layer spotlights marine sanctuaries
M. Gitlin Last week it was a plan to save the world . This week, Google is helping to make people realize why the world needs saving. In the past, we've touched on how Google is using its Google Earth platform to help scientists, whether it be better visualizing their data or better explaining what that data mean to the general public. At the International Union for Conservation of Nature's World Conservation Conference , taking place in Barcelona, Spain, it was announced that the IUCN is making use of Google Earth Outreach to launch a new layer to Google Earth that pinpoints the locations of all the protected marine areas on the planet. You can check out the layer online at Protect Planet Ocean , but unfortunately the plugin only works on Windows. It's a neat tool, although the climate change layers I wrote about recently have more bells and whistles. That said, I applaud the move, and despite the Windows-only nature of the API at the moment, I'm sure that more a...