High-resolution imaging has allowed scientists to produce the first full count of Antarctica's emperor penguins...
Before this, there was no way to to gather reliable penguin statistics. Geospatial technologies are now providing us the tools to teach us more about the biogeography of penguins. The applications of geospatial technologies are endless.
Kendra King's insight:
Technology continues to better define geography. As the article described, the use of satellite imagining recently showed that the “population count” of the emperor penguin “found nearly twice as many...as did previous studies.” Prior to the use of satellite imaging, the method to obtain this type of data was done by people actually being around the area. As the new numbers showed, this was inaccurate because so much of the Artic can’t be reached by the human population. I think this brings up an interesting notion. We define our landscape based on what we see. Yet, what we see doesn’t always capture what is actually on earth. As such, I wonder if more penguin colonies have disappeared then the one the British intuition noticed. We won’t know, but at least now thanks to technology a better grasp of the situation can happen. Maybe with more concrete data about the effects of global warming on Antarctic more non-believers could be swayed.
The only down side about this technology is the possibility for misuse. If we can now figure out the penguin population down to which ones are adults, imagine just what else this technology can due in the name of “geographic research.” In the wrong hands, I am sure that would spark some sort of controversy. As we learned in class, there is criticism over how China and North Korea doesn't allow its population access to technology. These are comments about how one society treats its own. If another society were to use technology against another for questionable reason, there would be a lot more than just some criticism. It would be an invasion of another sovereign entity, which history shows doesn't normally end in a peaceful manner. Thus, technology can be both good an bad. However, because technology can greatly advance the global worlds knowledge and perspective of the world, I choose to believe technology is beneficial overall.