The third visualization I found on The World Almanac 2007 related to a Google Earth feature on the crisis in Darfur. The visualization was built on Google Earth’s framework and consists of several layers:

• Damaged and Destroyed Villages – You are able to see the villages that were harmed. In a lot of cases, the Google Earth satellite picture will clearly show the destruction.
• Internally Displaced Persons in Darfur and Refugees in Chad – a 3D map showing locations and numbers of the 2.5 million displaced persons.
• Photos – Photos of the devastation linked to the area on the map they were taken.
• Testimonies – You can read first hand accounts of what happened.

The project was coordinated by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. They describe the project as follows:

In 2004 the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum declared a genocide emergency for Darfur, Sudan. To date about 2,500,000 civilians, targeted because of their ethnic or racial identity, have been driven from their homes, more than 300,000 people killed, and more than 1,600 villages destroyed by Sudanese government soldiers and government-backed militias, known as the “Janjaweed.” More than 200,000 Sudanese are refugees in neighboring Chad. The crisis continues as thousands more die each month from the effects of inadequate food, water, health care, and shelter in a harsh desert environment.

Witness the destruction for yourself. Using coordinates provided by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Google acquired high-resolution imagery over the region of Darfur and Eastern Chad. Now you can witness the destruction in Darfur via Google Earth. Zoom down and see what a burned village looks like from above, the vast tent cities of people displaced from their homes, and photographs on the ground of refugees struggling to survive. Read eyewitness testimony of atrocities in attacked villages. Visualize what genocide looks like today in Darfur.

Source: U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

The Darfur project is disturbing and compelling. These things can only happen when we all allow them to. This is an excellent use of technology to make you an eyewitness to an ongoing tragedy.

I had never used Google Earth before, and I found it an extremely interesting tool.

M. L. Liu’s original post on World Almanac 2007 can be found here. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Darfur project is located here.

Let me know what you think.

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