The U.S. government has bowed out, so the company is stepping up.
WITH OUR POWERS COMBINED... The United Nations' environmental agency has landed itself a powerful partner in the fight against climate change: Google. The tech company has agreed to partner with UN Environment to increase the world's access to valuable environmental data. Specifically, the two plan to create a user-friendly platform that lets anyone, anywhere, access environmental data collected by Google's vast network of satellites. The organizations announced their partnership at a UN forum focused on sustainable development on Monday.
FRESHWATER FIRST. The partnership will first focus on freshwater ecosystems, such as mountains, wetlands, and rivers. These ecosystems provide homes for an estimated 10 percent of our planet's known species, and research has shown that climate change is causing a rapid loss in biodiversity. Google will use satellite imagery to produce maps and data on these ecosystems in real-time, making that information freely available to anyone via the in-development online platform. According to a UN Environment press release, this will allow nations and other organizations to track changes and take action to prevent or reverse ecosystem loss.
LOST FUNDING. Since President Trump took office, the United States has consistently decreased its contributions to global climate research funds. Collecting and analyzing satellite data is neither cheap nor easy, but Google is already doing it to power platforms such as Google Maps and Google Earth. Now, thanks to this partnership, people all over the world will have a way to access information to help combat the impacts of climate change. Seems the same data that let's you virtually visit the Eiffel Tower could help save our planet.
READ MORE: UN Environment and Google Announce Ground-Breaking Partnership to Protect Our Planet [UN Environment]
More on freshwater: Climate Change Is Acidifying Our Lakes and Rivers the Same Way It Does With Oceans
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