Academic writing-Essay
Chimps’ Protection by the Help of Data from the NASA Satellite
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Chimps’ Protection by the Help of Data from the NASA Satellite.
In our world, today, chimpanzees are in a crisis of extinction. Where will their help come from? The exploration of space science may be able to help. Thanks to NASA; recently the agency made known its partnership with the Jane Goodall Institute, with an aim of salvaging the chimpanzee. Over 2 million chimpanzees existed in the world in the past 100 million years. The current statistics by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) approximates that a handful 345,000 chimpanzees or much fewer are remaining. The new collaboration will make use of the satellites from NASA and the Landsat satellites of United States Geological Survey to observe the forest homes of the chimps.
The main reason for the reduction of the population of chimpanzees is the loss of habitat, according to Lilian Pintea, the vice president of conservation science and specialist for remote sensing for the Jane Goodall Institute (1999). In 2000, Pintea observed a side-by-side evaluation of satellite images of the Gombe National Park, a chimp reserve located in Tanzania. The satellite images, taken in 1972 and in 1999, reveal the incredible deforestation that took place outside the park. Population growth, charcoal burning, and logging steered the high rate of deforestation. For this reason, the efforts to conserve the forest must include the local communities.
The data from NASA satellite helps us appreciate what it really means to be a chimp. This is because the data enabled the space scientist to closely observe the places where the remaining handful chimps are at risk of extinction. Plain maps don’t display the habitat of the chimpanzees alongside human activities, whereas Landsat satellite images are capable of clearly conveying information about the use of land and its influence on the forests.
The Goodall Institute will continue using the Satellite data to inform scientists, local communities, and conservationists with an aim of conserving forests and thus supporting the chimpanzee habitats.
Reference
Hille Karl. How Satellite Data Changed Chimpanzee Conservation Efforts. (2016, Jan 24). Retrieved from NASA Website:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/satellite-data-changed-chimpanzee-conservation-efforts