Green by the Numbers: Encyclopedia of Life catalog of all living things

by Dalene Entenmann
Feb 26th 2008 @ 12:30PM

Filed under: Green by the Numbers

Did you know?

• On the planet, there are 1.8 million known species.
• 10 times more species are yet to be discovered.
  

If you owned a book cataloging every species known to date, it is estimated the book would be more than 300 feet wide. Not a realistic solution to publishing or owning a book of that size, scientists have come up with another option -- an interactive online version called the Encyclopedia of Life. A continual work in progress, each page will be written collaboratively by scientists and amateurs from around the world. The beauty of a web page, as opposed to a printed page in a book, is the web page can be updated whenever new information about a species is discovered.

The Encyclopedia of Life will launch on February 28, 2008 featuring 30,000 pages of information on different species. Scientists behind the project hope to add pages for the entire 1.8 million known species within the next decade.

The ambitious project is designed for both the scientific community and anyone interested in learning more about a specific species. Website designers to the project are working on ways to make it as useful as possible. As example, if you are going to visit a certain area, you could create a field guide of the area to take along with you.

The ultimate goal of the ever evolving Encyclopedia of Life that could only exist in a virtual world is to educate, inspire, and increase a collective understanding of life on Earth, while safeguarding the richest possible spectrum of biodiversity. And no one will need to build a new bookcase.

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