The Climate and Health ANalysis for Global Education Viewer (CHANGE Viewer) was built using NASA World Wind, an open source, 3-D geo-visualization tool that allows users to zoom from satellite altitude views to any place on the Earth.
Installation:
In order to run CHANGE Viewer on your Windows or Macintosh OSX, your computer must meet certain requirements:
- a modern graphics card with an up-to-date driver
- Java Runtime Environment 1.6.0 (required to run any Java application)
- at least 2GB RAM
- 30MB available hard disk space
- an internet connection
The most common deployment issue is an out-of-date graphics driver. To get an updated driver, visit your graphics card manufacturer's web site. This will most likely be either Nvidia, ATI / AMD or Intel. The drivers are typically under a link named "Downloads" or "Support". If your computer is a laptop, then updated drivers are probably at the laptop manufacturer's web site rather than the graphics card manufacturer.
Launching:
Once you launch the CHANGE Viewer from the web link, two dialog boxes will appear. The first dialog will confirm that you have chosen to download the Beta_WMSLayerManage.jnlp file. Select the "Open With" radio button and choose "Java Web Start Launcher (default)" from the list box and press the OK button.
The next dialog to appear is the Global Climate Change Education Program application's digital signature dialog. Select the "Run" button. If the application fails to start or the first dialog does not have a "Java Web Start Launcher (default)" choice, then double check that your workstation meets the minimum workstation requirements.
You may wish to create a shortcut on your desktop so that you can launch the CHANGE Viewer directly from your desktop rather than from the webpage. An internet connection is still required for the CHANGE Viewer to operate properly. Every time you launch the CHANGE Viewer from the shortcut, the program will check back with website to see that any new upgrades are installed before the program launches.
Why use the CHANGE Viewer:
Using NASA World Wind as the platform, climate- and human health-related datasets from NASA, CIESIN and IAGT are accessible to teachers and students. Activities that encourage critical thinking about how a changing global climate will affect disease, food, migration, natural disasters, desertification, and access to water in various parts of the world assist teachers and students in using the CHANGE Viewer. The goal of the CHANGE Viewer is to provide students with a better understanding of climate change related human health issues globally and regionally and better preparing them to be effective leaders in the future.
The Climate Mapper tool developed by IAGT and the Population Estimation Service developed by SEDAC, are being merged and made available to both educators and students via the CHANGE Viewer.