Awareness of the climate crisis is in full swing on April 22 for Earth Day 2022, and Google is sounding the alarm: the company shows in its doodle a handful of time-lapse satellite videos showing the decades-long degradation of our forests, glaciers and coral reefs.
Throughout the day, Internet users who visit the main page of Google will see animated GIFs of the melting glaciers of Greenland, the retreat of those of Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania, the bleaching of the corals of the Great Barrier Reef. in Australia and deforestation in Germany.
The melting of glaciers in Greenland, from December 2000 to December 2020, as shown in Google’s doodle of the day.
Photo: Google Earth
The images, mostly captured over several decades, come in particular from Google Earth satellites. For the coral reef, these are Oceanic Agency videos taken from March 2016 to October 2017 near Lizard Island, Australia.
The aim is to remind users of the search engine of the urgency of the climate crisis with striking symbols.
When Internet users click on one of the four animated GIFs, Google redirects them to a page displaying the causes and effects of the climate crisis, and also offers possible solutions for action. Resources from the United Nations and governments on the environment are also suggested.
Break of tone
Traditionally, Google has been much more restrained in its doodles on the occasion of Earth Day. In 2021, for example, we could see, among other things, a little girl planting a tree, and see it grow. The company wanted to encourage people to do something for the environment.
In 2020, for the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, Internet users could play a minigame (New window)in which it was possible to control a bee to pollinate flowers.
Google’s parent company, Alphabet, made a 180-degree shift towards carbon neutrality in 2007. It aims to achieve by 2030 to convert entirely to renewable energies for its data centers (New window).
