How Google Earth helps illustrate the impact of the financial
crisis
The worldwide economic downturn has led to a steep drop in
global trade and exports. The image above, produced using a combination of
Google Earth and a plugin from Vesseltracker.com, shows an unprecedented number
of container ships sitting idle off Singapore in March 2009. The world's busiest
port for container traffic, Singapore saw its year-over-year volume drop by 19.6
percent in January 2009, followed by a 19.8 percent drop in February. By
mid-March 2009, 11.3 percent of the world's shipping capacity, or some 484
ships, sat idle, a record.
