Part 4/9:
Building a Searchable Earth: The Data Revolution
Google revolutionized information access by indexing the internet, making everything searchable. Now, Earth imaging companies like Planet aim to do the same for our planet. They are creating comprehensive, searchable databases of Earth's surface, object by object, over time.
Using advanced image recognition and machine learning, these datasets can identify and catalog everything from roads and buildings to ships and agriculture fields. Questions such as "How many roads are in Pakistan?" or "Where are illegal logging activities occurring in the Amazon?" become answerable with a few clicks. This democratizes access to environmental data, empowering governments, scientists, businesses, and citizens alike.