I've been playing around with Google Earth's KML spreadsheet as we're thinking of ideas we can contribute from the UK office to the Greenpeace layer in the Global Awareness section (recently added: highlights of our marine work), and I was checking out some of the showcased examples of good visual mapping done by other organisations. Amongst them, I came across this little beauty which visually represents the differing rates of deforestation around the world and it's quite, quite brilliant.

Gordon Brown has revealed his latest wheeze to try and convince us that underneath that gruff capitalist exterior there beats a heart of purest green. Together with the Met Office, the government has released a Google Earth layer showing the effects of climate change (download Google Earth, then get the layer).

Google Earth launches a new layer

Images have a way of penetrating the mind and conveying information more immediately and powerfully than reams of words and, as far as images of our planet go, they don't come much more powerful than Google Earth.

The application - which has already done its fair share of enabling people to use technology for the good of the planet - has launched a new Outreach programme, encouraging us at Greenpeace and other organisations to use the application to spread global awareness.