Earth Like You Haven't Seen It Before

You must have heard of Yann Arthus-Bertrand, the French photographer with a different aerial view of the world. I say that because he has a thing for taking pictures from hot air balloons, and they turn out to be way better. Of course, it could be the talent he has that makes the pictures what they are, not the means of transportation.

Nearly five hundred of these images have been added in a new layer today, each of them depicting an environmental situation, which was backed up by the people at Google Earth with thought-provoking statistics on them, put together by GoodPlanet.org. The layer was added as being part of the Google Earth Outreach program, started in June 2007, that was set to empower non-profit groups with the resources and the tools to promote their cause via Google Earth.

What else could have been done to promote this layer, which can be found in the Global Awareness folder? Umm… I think a gadget would do the trick, one that you can add to your homepage and set it to show a different image each day. Keep in mind that there are enough pictures for about one year and a half, so it won't get repetitive very soon.

I myself like this layer, it provides the kind of combination that I sought as a child, of stunning imagery and fact full content on the side, which might have answered each and every single question I could have come up with. If you've ever spent hours in front of an encyclopedia just browsing it and reading whatever it was that caught your eye, you would surely love the "Earth From Above" layer, as it was dubbed. So, without further ado, I present to you… the perfect time-spending means that also teaches you things about your planet! That didn't sound too well, but, hey, spirit of good will be onto humanity for the holidays!