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Google, with its aim to provide non-profit services, has taken another initiative that aims to raise awareness of the importance of protecting the environment. The company has partnered with Aclima, an envirotech firm to measure air pollution levels in few states of the US and map out the evaluations on the Google Earth platform.
The collaboration of two companies will release local air quality data for the regions of the San Fransisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, and Central Valley. For the collection of data and information regarding this project, the two companies covered more than 100,000 miles over the course of a year using Google Street View cars.
Street View cars will now add air pollution sensors to measure the density of pollution in the air in some states of the US while the update will soon roll out to other countries of the world.
Google Earth Outreach program manager Karin Tuxen-Bettman says,
“All of us can go on our smartphone and get the weather. But what if you could scroll down and see what the air quality is on the street where you’re walking?”
Karin also explains the purpose of this project for the scientists and air quality specialists who can easily use this information to assist local organizations, regulators, and governments in identifying opportunities to achieve greater air quality improvements and solutions.
Google Earth Outreach Program has also worked with Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) to map thousand of methane gas leaks from natural gas pipelines in various local streets of the US with the help of street view cars equipped with methane gas detectors.
This initiative by Google on Google Earth will make the invisible pollutants visible on the map so that we can breathe better and live healthier. The tech giant has dominance over every field of technology from computing to hardware and is rapidly emerging with its work for social causes.
