Earth Day: Google doodle celebrates with aerial photos

NEW DELHI: Google has unveiled a new doodle on Monday celebrating Earth Day. The Google Doodle, which replaces the iconic 'Google' logo on the search engine's homepage, featured aerial photos from Earth, highlighting some areas where progress has been made towards a more sustainable future.

The Google letters highlight various locations worldwide where individuals, communities, and governments strive daily to preserve the Earth's natural beauty, biodiversity, and resources.

G represents Turks and Caicos Islands. The islands are home to important biodiversity areas with conservation efforts aimed at addressing ongoing environmental challenges, including protecting natural resources and reefs and restoring endangered species like the Turks and Caicos Islands rock iguana.

O represents Scorpion Reef National Park in Mexico. Also known as Arrecife de Alacranes, this is the largest reef in the southern Gulf of Mexico and Unesco biosphere reserve. The marine protected area serves as a refuge for complex coral and several endangered bird and turtle species.

O represents Vatnajökull National Park in Iceland. Established as a national park in 2008 after decades of advocacy, this UNESCO World Heritage Site protects the ecosystem in and around Europe’s largest glacier. The mix of volcanoes and glacial ice produce rare landscapes and flora.

G represents Jaú National Park in Brazil. Also known as Parque Nacional do Jaú, this is one of South America’s largest forest reserves and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Located in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, it protects a huge range of species, including the margay, jaguar, giant otter, and the Amazonian manatee.

L represents the Great Green Wall in Nigeria. Started in 2007, this African Union-led initiative is restoring land affected by desertification across the width of Africa, planting trees and other vegetation while implementing sustainable land management practices. This also provides the people and communities in the area with increased economic opportunities, food security, and climate resilience.

E represents Pilbara Islands Nature Reserves in Australia. Located by one of the Pilbara Island Nature Reserves, one of 20 nature reserves in Australia that help protect fragile ecosystems, increasingly rare natural habitats, and a number of threatened or endangered species—including multiple species of marine turtles, shorebirds, and seabirds.

A Google doodle is a temporary modification of the Google logo on the search engine's homepage, typically appearing on specific holidays, festivals, or to honor the contributions of individuals on their birth or death anniversaries.