A Mobile App for Earth Day; Fragile Earth for iOS

Zach Davis Apr 22, 2012 Tweet

People don’t change for the sake of change; it’s not until we’re offered a compelling reason why that we will take a new course of actions.  The “be good to your planet, it’s the only one you have” motto is great, but unfortunately, that alone is unlikely to affect behavior.  Showing someone images of what once was a flourishing Amazonian rain forest, contrasted with the present day, stripped down and gutted version is more likely to tug at the heart strings.

The new Harper Collins UK Fragile Earth app for iOS (iPhone and iPad) may be just the tool to incite such change.  By displaying powerful before and after images of earth’s most vulnerable habitats, Fragile Earth brings the effects of rampant population growth and resource consumption to the forefront.  The app offers an interesting sideswipe feature displaying the contrast of satellite images over time (see: below).

Deforestation of tropical rainforest in Bolivia

If nothing else, Fragile Earth offers a pretty stunning array of satellite images of some of earth’s most beautiful regions (unfortunately trending in the wrong direction).  The imagery alone may be worth the app’s $2.99 price tag (and only $0.99 for earth day).

Fragile Earth was developed by Brighton-based Aimer Media.  You can download the app here.