The world that we live in
is not well-known.
It's fragile.
It’s rich in biodiversity.
And it’s increasingly impacted
by human activities.
Geologists are beginning to call
this era the Anthropocene.
Today, our world is in trouble
because humans are living carelessly.
We are threatening our very future.
We are, as human beings,
going to have to
collectively come together
and address these challenges.
A sustainable future,
in my mind, is possible,
but we’re going to have to do many things,
and we're going to have to do these now.
Sustainability really requires
that we see the world as one system.
Today, in my field, the geospatial field,
we are seeing technologies emerge
that are becoming interconnected.
They're allowing us to measure,
analyze and understand
what's occurring on our globe.
We're bringing together geographic
information from many sources,
virtually describing everything
that is occurring on our planet.
These technologies are being
systematically interconnected
with the web,
and opening up,
allowing organizations
to be able to see information
and create what I like to describe
as a geographic information system
for our entire planet.
This system promises to be a platform
for better understanding
and managing our planet,
a kind of nervous system
for a more sustainable future.
A central part of this system is content.
We are creating
a living atlas of our planet
that provides a massive collection
of authoritative data and map layers,
describing information on things
like population and the economy.
A wealth of information
on natural systems,
including all the -ologies:
hydrology, biology, vegetation
and, of course, the rich
biodiversity that sustains us.
This atlas also includes imagery
from many sources,
from satellites, aerial photography,
describing the changing
human footprint on our planet.
Some of these layers
are also almost real-time,
providing information about pollution
and weather and land cover.
Remote sensing and machine learning
are making it possible for us
to see things like wildfires
here in the US,
but also in Greece and Russia,
in Italy and Turkey this year.
This data has been made available
by thousands of individual,
trusted scientific government
and NGO organizations
who wish to share and make
their data available openly.
Recently, my colleagues and I developed
a new 10-meter global map of land cover
for the entire planet.
This was computed in less than a week
using AI and machine learning.
It has given us a clear picture
of land-cover patterns today
and will also be the foundation
for us to periodically show change,
update the footprint almost in real time.
Here, for example, we can see in Malaysia
where the demand for palm oil
is impacting and consuming natural areas.
In Buenos Aires, we can see the effect
of urbanization and sprawl
on impacting natural lands
around the city.
In Xingu, in Brazil,
this is a really amazing point,
because it's showing where the government
has actually looked ahead
and protected certain areas
in special zones
so that biodiversity will be sustained.
GS is also being used to model
and forecast our future.
For example, this amazing map
of 2050 land cover
predicts, using various statistical means,
the expansion of where
the human footprint is going
and how it might impact areas
of rich biodiversity.
Organizations around the world are already
leveraging this geospatial nervous system
for better planning and decision making.
In the future,
we're going to have to empower
virtually every organization
to embrace this new geographic approach.
The geographic approach is a way
to bring all this information together
to see holistically
how things are interrelated.
A science-based approach
which is inclusive,
that can bring together
multiple populations
to be able to create
more intelligent actions
and create a more sustainable future.
These kinds of advances
in technology and information
are increasingly available,
but it's going to take more
than simply technology
to create a sustainable future.
It’s going to require
major segments of our society --
organizations, governments,
businesses around the world --
embracing this science,
embracing what technology can offer
and using their creative and design skills
to be able to create a better future.
Ultimately, it'll require all of us
to integrate this kind of thinking,
this science-based thinking,
this geographic-approach thinking,
into the way that we make decisions,
both as individuals
and also in all of our institutions,
locally, regionally,
nationally and ultimately globally.
Like the internet
and other pervasive technologies,
this nervous system
is going to grow and expand.
It's going to empower
our collective response
to understanding and taking action --
not only for climate,
but also all the interrelated challenges
that we are facing as a global society.
We have the tools and the science
for better understanding.
Now that we can see as much as we can see,
we must act.
Thank you very much.