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Translating Big Data into Big Climate Ideas: Communicating Future Climate Scenarios to Increase Interdisciplinary Engagement.
Citation:
Pickard, B., J. Baynes, M. Mehaffey, AND A. Neale. Translating Big Data into Big Climate Ideas: Communicating Future Climate Scenarios to Increase Interdisciplinary Engagement. Solutions. Solutions, Burlington, VT, 6(1):1-13, (2015).
Impact/Purpose:
Article discussing the importance of recently created climate tools within the EnviroAtlas
Description:
Climate change has emerged as the significant environmental challenge of the 21st century. Therefore, understanding our changing world has forced researchers from many different fields of science to join together to tackle complicated research questions. The climate change research community now faces the daunting task of disseminating massive amounts of information about possible future climates under differing scenarios, to a broad audience and make the data readily accessible so that it can be used by scientists in other research fields. One potential solution for distribution and communication of the climate scenario information may be through the EnviroAtlas, a new geospatial application developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and its partners. This interactive mapping tool allows users to access and explore climate change modeling information in easily understandable formats while at the same time providing a range of information on different ecosystem goods and services, or the benefits people receive from nature. By incorporating future scenarios such as land use and climate change within EnviroAtlas, we can evaluate specific components of complex ecosystems within the context of forecasted futures. Linking climate change impacts to ecosystem services, such as clean air and water, allows for opportunities to demonstrate how climate change will impact ecosystems, societies and human health.