We have the satellite data to show climate change is real. Now what?

Space programs are often concerned with what's happening "out there" in the universe, a large portion of what space agencies like NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) do is monitor what is happening on the surface of the Earth. This includes keeping track of things like weather, but also human-induced drivers of global warming such as the emissions of greenhouse gasses, deforestation and changes in seasonal ice coverage in Arctic and Antarctic regions. That's important because research has shown human activities are indeed the primary drivers of climate change.

Since 1972, the U.S Geological Survey Landsat Earth Observation satellites have been providing scientists and policy makers with up to date data on a range of features of Earth's surface, and the picture being painted is a grim one. Earth's surface is changing rapidly: polar ice caps are shrinking, highly biodiverse areas are being destroyed , and oceans are growing increasingly polluted, among a raft of other environmental changes.

However, given the volume and availability of data that satellites have captured informing us of the ongoing impacts of human activity on Earth's surface, an important question has to be asked — why has this knowledge not led to large-scale environmental action?

"We can track how much ice the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are losing using satellite observations of changes in their volume, ice flow or gravitational pull. The ice sheets cover vast regions and only satellite observations can help us chart how much ice they are losing and gaining," Inès Otosaka, Director for Operations of the NERC Centre for Polar Observation and Modeling (CPOM), told Space.com.

Tools vs solutions

Space-based satellites and their ability to observe real-time changes in the atmosphere, along with mapping seasonal and gradual changes in Earth's features such as ice coverage, have radically changed the information landscape in terms of what we know about our relationship with our dynamic planet.

But having the capacity to witness these changes without a clear path towards solving them has been frustrating for many. One pathway forward, suggests Karen Jones, a Senior Policy Analyst at the Center for Space Policy, is increasing accountability.