Fighting Climate Change: The Ultimate Data Challenge
The Paris Agreement on climate change announced on December 12 has been hailed as a triumph of diplomacy and international cooperation. It was all that - and it was also proof of the power of data. Decades of data on global temperature change, melting glaciers, and rising carbon dioxide levels have become too compelling to ignore.
Now scientists are using data not only to monitor climate change but to help provide solutions. Combining data science with climate science may be our best hope to reduce greenhouse gasses and to survive the climate changes already under way. In a special session on climate data held in Paris, Dr. John Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, identified three emerging uses for data: For international engagement, adaptation, and mitigation to fight climate change.
Alan O'Rourke