GOOGLE LAUNCHES NEW FEATURES TO LET USERS FACTOR CLIMATE CHANGE INTO LIFE

Thu 07 October 2021:

Google announced on Wednesday that it is making changes to widely used apps for getting around, shopping, and other activities to allow users to integrate climate change into their daily lives.

Google is one of the Big Tech companies that has made commitments and investments to lessen their operations’ environmental impact, such as making power-hungry data centers carbon neutral.

Users can help by driving routes that result in less emissions being emitted from cars or shopping online for energy efficient goods, according to new features introduced on Wednesday.

“In all these efforts, our goal is to make the sustainable choice an easier choice,” Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said while briefing journalists on the latest features.

In the United States, artificial intelligence was used in Google’s free Maps service to show users the most fuel-efficient routes to destinations, even if they were not the quickest.

“It defaults to the route that uses less fuel when the estimated time of arrival is similar,” Pichai said.

“We believe the feature will have the same impact in the next year as taking over 200,000 cars off the road.”

In 2022, the functionality will be extended out across Europe.

Later in October, information search results for queries about climate change will appear in a new layout, Horton said. This feature will be available in English, French and Spanish.

“This new layout will show relevant information and guidance from authoritative sources like the United Nations, including concise explainers on the causes of climate change, its effects, and even actions you can take to live more sustainably, like using energy efficient appliances or taking public transit,” Horton said.

Google has also begun work on a project that will utilize AI to improve traffic efficiency in cities by reducing the amount of time vehicles spend idling at junctions.

Information on carbon dioxide emissions is being added to a Flights website for booking plane tickets.

“We’re putting these numbers in context by labeling flights that have significantly higher emissions, and adding a green badge to flights with significantly lower emissions,” Google said in a post.

The figures will also reveal how much more CO2 is emitted by business or first-class seats, which provide more space for people.

Google will begin providing information on how eco-friendly hotels are in the coming months so that people may choose environmentally friendly lodging.

Google is incorporating environmental effect information into its financial investing and appliance shopping services, as well as offering more information on the cost-benefits of electric automobiles.

“Individually, these choices might feel small but when you multiply them together across our products, they equal big transformations for the planet,” Pichai said.

“It’s going to take all of that to avert the worst consequences of climate change and there’s no time to waste.”

Google, however, did not announce any changes to searches on YouTube, which is a big platform for misinformation and lies about climate change.

Of the top 100 videos that pop up when searching for “global warming,” 20 percent of views are for videos rife with misinformation, according to one recent analysis by nonprofit Avaaz. Google has also not met its own employees’ demands that it cancel contracts with fossil fuel companies or stop funding and lobbying for candidates that derail climate action.

(with agency)

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