coming up next here on d.w. shift to living in the digital age today taking a look at the online maps that finds environmental destruction will have more news for you at the top of the hour speak now on that as always the web site w dot com i'm good. dear friends dear antone and here's a scene here. my 3 grandchildren sleep on trouble when i was in france as

a you know my grandchildren were born after the wall fell morning free ranging 3 generations one family on a journey through recent german history and. the. dogs starts november 6th on d. w. . melting glacier as michael plastics in the ocean and fires in the amazon the news about climate change is disturbing and often contradictory especially on social media still the online world offers many ways to get reliable info and get active digital environmental protection i would topic today on shift. i know my own eco balance as well roughly. the average german produces 9 tons of c

o 2 per year and each european generates some $24.00 kilos of plastic waste to me that sounds like a lot but how bad is it by comparison in india the average person produces just 11 kilos of plastic waste but where does my garbage actually go and how much plastic winds up in the world's oceans 8000000 tons a year that's what science magazine estimates environmental pollution and climate change are global issues so it's not just me expos also want to get their hands on reliable data i am. here to pour. all the. plastic from all over the. there were. but this is a very i mean it is trying to make that dream come true at the alfred vigna

institute for polar and marine research in. she's part of a team of scientists who are analyzing the increasing pollution of the oceans they have compiled their results and created an online world map that's accessible to everyone. i mean a tech man's research focuses on the question where does the plastic waste in the oceans come from she's helping to program the litter based databank to present this information in a form that's easy to understand. our basic idea is scientific. and the best way forward is to create some maps and some graphs litter based is an online database that's open to everyone graphic show the results of more than a 1000 scientific study on a world map it's easy to see where research expeditions have already taken place.

the latest results from the world wide scientific community are regularly fed into the database the aim is to make the global issue of marine pollution more accessible and easily understood including to nonscientists. more especially because of and people like to have picked earth having these maps this is graphs are. the global forest change database at the university of maryland also uses a map to show the state of the world's forests since 2013 users have been able to call up info based on satellite images they can see the effects of forest fires illegal logging and station over long periods. the global forest watch platform is also dedicated to protecting forests and their inhabitants it combines satellite

technology with open data and crowdsourcing. temperature c o 2 levels and even current weather phenomena can be found on the web site earth now. here u.s. space agency nasa presents comprehensive satellite data and real time you can track how tropical storms or forest fires like here in australia are developing on earth now. various natural disasters are also explained. the alfred baker institute also plans to incorporate non scientifically compiled data melanie bagman wants holiday makers to upload observations about beaches and coastlines kind of a theme on the topic of marine letter in particular tends itself well to citizen scientists because trash is something everyone can relate to everyone knows what a bottle or a plastic bag is and this helps us to cover a much better area geographically and to better fill in the white spots we still

have on our map. for as a citizen scientist i can help organizations collect reliable information online a good example is the app literati it lets ordinary folks document cases of environmental pollution and invite others to help clean them up. information is important but taking action is vital. there's no excuse for saying you don't know how to help it specially after b. show you these innovative ideas which make it even easier to help save the planet. they could be anywhere from 862150 1000000 tons of waste plastic and. it's collected that since the material became popular in the 1950 s. finishing it out using conventional methods would take decades and cost billions. on a digital solution intelligent. floating islands of garbage to receiving relevant data

. the data is provided in real time via satellite. the spanish project c o 2 revolution aims to reclaim the rain forest with the help of high tech. key just waves of the far east have been destroyed in recent decades. seem to revolution has developed an intelligent seed called seed it's launched from which can cover huge areas quickly the grounds have access to data like soil conditions and climate and he'll use g.p.s. to plant the right seeds in the right place. nigerian firm and has developed a method of bringing keen energy to remote regions of africa using cellphones. tricity comes from a solar panel on the roof the mobile phone functions as a power distribution center and an electric meter making palace stations and

electrical grid. some 400000 people now receive green electricity this way. the effects of climate change and environmental pollution are experienced differently. than the places where most of the ways this created in 2017 germany exported 24.3. 1000000 tons of its trash the industrialized nations of northern hemisphere produce the most c o 2 but they haven't yet experienced the devastating effects of climate change by those in the solve but digital solutions can help those hardest hit. and rivers where once found there is now only arid desert. climate change is already a reality in east africa and it's endangering the livelihoods of herders in the region. if there's no water there herds died after a scout is an app which helps africa's herders track down increasingly rare sources

of water using the latest satellite data. climate change is also affecting africa's farmers extreme weather such as long periods of drought entrenched storms or causing damage like they've never seen before. that's where the agric sap comes in and helps farmers recognise pests and plant diseases early so they can save their crops the app uses a so every time it's used its database expands and is prognoses improved. in south america the destruction of the rain forest is a major problem now a digital warning system should help brazilian environmental research institute. fire clearing. not only can smartphones warn about these fires there are also a weapon in the battle against deforestation because the quicker the fires are reported the quicker they can be put out. sharing is caring can sometimes

apply in the digital world to every piece of information that uses positon can help other people directly unlike my last cell feed on instagram so what can i do personally to actively protect the environment and on the climate change tons of local projects and even apps that can help you do your bit if you that we. is specially interesting. it's all started with the big cleanup dr sim berlin but putting out an online call to combat pollution locally was only the beginning for plan a. it see oh no is that solving big problems requires big data. climate change is not one problem climate is a lot of the problems are intertwined and how are they took photos of. this complexity we use the data to pinpoint exactly the locations and the types

of issues that happen around the world that need to be immediately acted on. the plan and based startup analyzes danger from research institutions around the world based on its findings turn a contacts individuals companies and community groups in the affected areas the only prerequisite is that they want to do something to combat climate change plan any publicizes their projects and allows users to help fund them every plan is thoroughly checked for its viability and transparency. then there's the eco enter your daily habits with a few clicks and the app will calculate your carbon footprint and show how to string it. it also invites you to be a tri met hero by supporting carbon offset projects that help people and the planet . the c o 2 tracking at 3 for a storm also focuses on individual consumption if you can use the app to create

a manage your own forest thereby reducing your carbon footprint everyone can do something to save the planet. the climate protection has made. clear what they need to do i think because of the language that is being used we speak. in a way that doesn't necessarily explain to people. we should be focusing on vices rather than. big words about. the digital world is full of good intentions but can we really stop the destruction of the environment and climate change online it's a bit paradoxical after all the internet itself consumes vast amounts of energy and mountains of discarded smartphones part of the problem not the solution yet digital technologies could play a major role 1st big data can help us reach a greater scientific awareness climate change is

a global phenomenon so gathering huge amounts of data from around the world is vital 2nd they could help to relieve some of the worst effects for instance through real time analysis which could help get aid to affected areas quickly and 3rd and this is where we come in my absence that farms users can contribute directly whether by collecting data or helping right where it's needed for instance i could do my part by joining a local organization what's your contribution to competition climate change let us know if for example. that's it for the day by.

call for. the line. smaller power line at. the green girls are enlightening many villages in cameroon in more ways than one. this in geo bring sustainable energy and know how to the country's women and solves more than one problem in the process. you can look at africa next r.t.w. next. where and how they choose to be buried reflects the life. in germany traditional cemeteries are no longer the only place for burials more and more people are looking for alternatives. signs as the grave changing landscape of german cemeteries. 30 minutes on d w. invites us to see people in particular.

like to see some stupid stein strains growing up. my objective is to share work afraid. to be books on you to. athens isn't of the world it's odd duty to do what we can to protect our planet and its resources i am now if i may welcome senator edison of the coffee cup where we highlight environmental topics and ideas from you.