WH moves to bulk up nature’s defenses against climate change

The White House released “troves” of government data on Tuesday aimed at making ecosystems and water resources across the country more resilient to global warming.

The data, released by the Interior Department and other agencies on climate.data.gov, includes water, ecosystem, and geospatial tools, the White House said.

{mosads}In a blog post on Tuesday, John Holdren, science adviser to President Obama, said the administration expects state and local natural resource managers to use the data on streamflow, soil, landcover, and biodiversity, and visualization tools in their day-to-day decisions.  

“Land and water managers, environmental planners, and those who rely on ecosystems to support and run businesses need easy, intuitive access to the most accurate and relevant available information about climate change in order to make informed decisions on the ground,” Holdren said.

Earlier data sets made public on the government website pertained only to sea-level rise, flood risk and agriculture, the White House said.

On top of the new information, the administration announced new pledges from nonprofits and the public and private sector to commit resources, expertise and new technology to improve the climate data aimed at making ecosystems and water resources stronger in the face of extreme climate changes.

Amazon and Google were among those pledging resources to Obama’s climate data initiative on Tuesday.

The administration has hunkered down on climate action since the midterms, signaling the president’s commitment to his agenda on fighting global warming despite Republican pushback.