2024 has opened with alarming numbers concerning climate change. As per reports, there’s almost a 50% possibility of the average global temperature rising at least 1.5 degrees Celsius higher in the five years from 2022 to 2026.

No doubt, climatic challenges are posing a major threat to mankind today. This is why we at the Tribhuvan College, one of the leading environmental science colleges in India, keep repeatedly speaking about the same. Today, through this blog post, we aim to educate our students and the public in general about the need to curb climate change. We believe it is high time for us humans to take collaborative action if we wish to keep its severe consequences like droughts, loss of biodiversity, hotter temperatures, food shortage, and constant health risks at bay.

The good news, however, is that we can now place our hands on a ray of hope, better known as "Big Data Analytics." This, we believe, has the potential of addressing all the multi-layered climate challenges. Let us see how.

• Forwarding of Predictive Analysis:

Solving the problem of climate change requires undivided attention and investments in the area of forecast management. However, forecast methodologies are currently in their nascent stage, which might not help resolve this problem immediately.

This is where Big Data Analytics' predictive modeling proves helpful. Big Data analyzes a vast quantum of historical and real-time data across climate patterns, weather events, and impact parameters. This helps the authorities to stay prepared for what is yet to come and eventually mitigate the negative effects of climate change. In the absence of Big Data Analytics, achieving this end would have been really difficult.

• Energy Management with Smart Grids:

Do you know one of the key drivers of climate change is energy, especially non-renewable energy sources, which become responsible for greenhouse gas emissions? This is where energy management becomes critical, something that Big Data Analytics makes easily possible. Big Data brings this into play by improving the functionality of smart grids, by tracking energy consumption patterns and optimizing energy distribution in real-time. In the process, grid stability improves, energy wastage gets reduced, and the problem of climate change comes under control.

• Boost to Renewable Energy Sources:

Big Data furthers its capacity to fulfill energy management goals by analyzing weather patterns, infra data, and energy demand to develop algorithms that ensure an immediate shift from fossil fuel-based power generation to renewable energy systems.

Moreover, renewable energy service providers become better equipped to analyze customer behaviors, consumption patterns, and weather forecasts to ultimately balance the demand-supply curve. In the process, big data helps to optimize the generation, distribution, and consumption of renewable energy sources, thus reducing carbon footprints and offering support to the climate change concern.

• Upping Transport Efficiency:

Discussions on climate change often lead us to transport networks in the region under discussion because vehicles are believed to be the number one cause behind carbon footprints and greenhouse emissions. Hence, the need of the hour is to optimize transport efficiency, which is again something that Big Data Analytics makes possible.

From what we at the Tribhuvan College have comprehended, Big Data builds algorithms that help to optimize route planning, promote pooling of vehicles, and encourage deployment of electric and autonomous vehicles.

To arrive at this end, Big Data assesses and analyzes data surrounding traffic patterns, vehicle telemetry data, and of course, alternate modes of transportation.

• Boost to Precision Agriculture:

We all are aware that agriculture continues to remain the primary occupation for a nation like India, with multiple households drawing their livelihood from agriculture alone. Amidst this, if it is found that agriculture is one of the major causes behind climate change, as it becomes directly and indirectly responsible for global greenhouse gas emissions, this calls for immediate attention and action.

Here again, Big Data Analytics steps forward to offer the necessary support. Big Data makes this possible by relying on remote sensing, IoT sensors, and machine learning algorithms, which eventually come together to improve agricultural resource efficiency, reduce agriculture-driven emissions, and improve crop yields, even amidst the ever-changing climatic conditions.

It is believed that in the years to come, Big Data will support agriculture by continually analyzing weather data, soil conditions, crop performance, and market conditions.

Big Data Analytics—A Potential Aid for Managing Climate Change:

We at the Tribhuvan College, being one of the best colleges for environmental science in India, have been a part of multiple conversations leading to ways to deal with climate change. After looking at multiple alternatives, we are happy to have come across Big Data, for it has a higher efficacy. In the days to come, you need not be surprised if Big Data steps in to guide the process of building climate policy and frameworks. Similarly, this mechanism is expected to prove equally helpful in deriving insights about public sentiments on climate change, which would eventually help in designing education and awareness drives, too.