EcoTechies heart Google Earth.

The popular 3D map program — which allows viewers an animated satellite’s-eye-view of the earth — has attracted over 200 million users since its release in 2005. An entire community has developed around the application, tagging points of local interest, spotting shipwrecks, and cataloging the sometimes incomprehensible oddities captured by Google Earth’s unblinking eye.

Of particular note to the environmentally inclined is Google Earth’s collection of map overlays demonstrating the effects of climate change and human activity. The Global Awareness collection highlights WWF conservation projects, changes in African wetlands, and scars left by mountaintop removal coal mining in the Appalachians.

Now, just in time for Earth Day, comes a major upgrade of the Google Earth software. While officially beta, Google Earth 4.3 has proven to be relatively stable after 24 hours of testing here at EcoTech Daily, and provides substantial improvements to the program’s 3D rendering, navigation, and features.

If you’re a Google Earth veteran, you’ll immediately notice a change in the way zooming is handled. From a distant “outer space” view, terrain is rendered in Google Earth’s traditional, flat map view. But as you zoom in closer, the view begins to tilt, seamlessly transitioning to 3D mode. The effect is natural and automatic. Users can still control pan angle using the program’s onscreen tools.

Takin’ it to the streets

This release also marks the integration of Google’s Street Level virtual reality, a popular feature imported from Google Maps. Street Level photos appear as camera icons where available. When double-clicked, the map zooms in on the icon, which becomes a clear bubble revealing the photo image. As the zoom continues, the viewer appears to pass through the bubble, which takes the Street Level image into fullscreen mode. It’s a trippy and imaginative interface that really deepens Google Earth’s “tourist” appeal.

Here comes the sun

Though not Google Earth’s most useful feature, version 4.3 builds on the Sky functionality added last summer to simulate sunrise and sunset at a selected location. Slip into daylight mode, zoom close to the ground, and face east or west. Using the time slider, you can track the sun as it moves across your virtual destination.

There are other enhancements, particularly in the number and quality of 3D building animations. Being a beta release, a few bugs are evident. A bookmark we placed in Chatsworth, California, mysteriously ended up in the Pacific Ocean, and jumping between adjacent street view icons sometimes invoked the standard terrain view, rather than the program’s default dissolve effect. Overall, the annoyances are minor.

Google Earth is a fun way to explore the planet without burning a drop of petroleum are incurring pangs of green guilt.

Introducing Google Earth 4.3 (Lat Long Blog)
Google Earth Home (Google)