Shuttle radar data also will enable them to compare large-scale ancient settlement patterns and their distribution around the world. Since many archaeologists working in remote parts of the world rely on outdated maps or no maps at all to conduct these studies, the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission's highly precise 3-D data will provide many with their first comprehensive tools. Ecology concentrates on the interrelationship of living things and their environment. As civilization and technology advance, people have learned to modify the environment. Human activity has had enormous repercussions, changing ecosystems and depleting natural resources.
People use vast amounts of energy and produce massive amounts of waste and exhaust.
It is critical that scientists understand the impact humanity is having on planet Earth and that better tools be developed to accurately measure changes in world climate, temperatures, habitats,and species. Like glass in a greenhouse, these gases admit the sun's light but tend to reflect the heat that is radiated from the ground below back down to the ground, trapping heat in Earth's atmosphere. Scientists continue to work on computer models of climate change to determine how much of an increase in greenhouse gases is occurring in Earth's atmosphere. Shuttle Radar Topography Mission data will allow them to develop more accurate models of the global circulation of the atmosphere. Mapping of the world's rainforests is an essential ingredient in global protection of Earth in the next century.