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The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) has provided Google with data that has allowed the internet company to use climate change projections within its Google Earth application. Users can now view for example, images of greenhouse gas emissions by region, as well as the expected consequences of climate change; the idea is to make the information more accessible in the hope that this will eventually lead to more action on the issue.

The British Atmospheric Data Centre (BADC) which is the Natural Environment Research Council’s dedicated atmospheric data centre hosted by STFC’s Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) produces estimates of the global distribution of temperature and rainfall changes based on data contributed to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) by 22 climate research centres around the world. The data it has given Google is being used as part of the internet company’s collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Denmark; they’re working together to increase global engagement in climate change in the run-up to and during the UN Climate Change Conference which will be hosted by Denmark in Copenhagen in December.

The Ambassador and under-secretary for public diplomacy in Denmark, Klavs A. Holm said; “By making complicated data on climate change available in an easy to understand visual form, we seek to increase awareness about the consequences of climate change. We greatly appreciate the assistance of the British Atmospheric Data Centre in this project.”

Martin Juckes runs the IPCC Data Distribution Centre for BADC at RAL, distributing climate data and guidance authorised by the IPCC through a web site and online help desk. Queries come from all over the world and enquiries have ranged from an engineer in Panama needing to know about sea level rise, to a project manager in Sudan wanting advice on carbon offsetting.

Martin Juckes said; “The IPCC Data Distribution Centre has provided data to Google Outreach as part of a project to increase global engagement in climate change. The consequences of climate change are potentially severe, but the projected changes are complex. By providing reliable and authoritative guidance, the DDC aims to promote efficient research into the impacts of climate change”.


Notes to editors

The IPCC Data Distribution is funded by DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs).

For more information on the UN Climate Change Conference in December please visit: www.cop15.dk 

The visualisation on climate change on Google Earth can be found at: www.google.com/cop15

 
Images available:
A screenshot of one of the visualisations is available. Please contact the press office for more details.

Contacts:

Lucy Stone
Press Officer
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory

Email: lucy.stone@stfc.ac.uk 
Tel Number: 01235 445627


Further Information

BADC

The BADC, hosted by STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire, is the Natural Environment Research Council's designated data centre for atmospheric sciences, and is part of the National Centre for Atmospheric Science. It holds many atmospheric datasets totalling more than a 100 Terabytes of data in over 80 million files, from a variety of sources, including satellites, balloons, aircraft, computer models of the atmosphere and ground-based instruments. The data are accessible free to non-commercial research projects through the BADC website.

http://badc.nerc.ac.uk/home/ 


Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is the leading body for the assessment of climate change, established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) to provide the world with a clear scientific view on the current state of climate change and its potential environmental and socio-economic consequences.

http://www.ipcc.ch/organization/organization.htm 


DEFRA

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is a Government Department in the UK.

The overarching challenge for Defra is to secure a healthy environment in which we and future generations can prosper.
http://www.defra.gov.uk/ 

Science and Technology Facilities Council
The Science and Technology Facilities Council ensures the UK retains its leading place on the world stage by delivering world-class science; accessing and hosting international facilities; developing innovative technologies; and increasing the socio-economic impact of its research through effective knowledge exchange partnerships.

The Council has a broad science portfolio including Astronomy, Particle Physics, Particle Astrophysics, Nuclear Physics, Space Science, Synchrotron Radiation, Neutron Sources and High Power Lasers. In addition the Council manages and operates three internationally renowned laboratories:

- The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxfordshire
- The Daresbury Laboratory, Cheshire
- The UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Edinburgh

The Council gives researchers access to world-class facilities and funds the UK membership of international bodies such as the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN), the Institute Laue Langevin (ILL), European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), the European organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO) and the European Space Agency (ESA). It also contributes money for the UK telescopes overseas on La Palma, Hawaii, Australia and in Chile, and the MERLIN/VLBI National Facility, which includes the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory.
The Council is a partner in the UK space programme, coordinated by the British National Space Centre.

www.stfc.ac.uk