aerial perspective: Can Mapping Save the Planet? - GIS/GPS merges with lidar and photogrammetry to map climate change.

摘要

In the summer of 2008, a monumental event occurred that almost passed unnoticed by the U.S. media. Canadian scientists revealed that part of the Arctic ice shelf broke off and formed two islands. This shearing represented the largest break in polar ice in three years and quite possibly one of the most dramatic examples of the effects of global warming. As older, thicker ice melts away leaving the waters surrounding the North Pole open, it's apparent that both the North Pole and the planet may be "on thin ice." While global warming has been acknowledged by most scientists and publicized by the media, the phenomenon is not widely understood by the general public. Basically, scientists have noticed that, since the time records were first kept on concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, levels of CO2 and other trace gases (methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons [HFCs], perfluorinated compounds [PFCs], and sulfur hexafluoride) that affect our global climate have increased significantly. Many people believe that human activities have been a large contributor to this increase.