Online Discussion on Climate Change

On 9th December 2009, ESRI president Jack Dangermond opened an online discussion about the value of geographic information systems (GIS) to develop programs for carbon accounting and environmental sustainability. The conversation runs concurrently with the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Copenhagen, Denmark. ESRI's hosted Spatial Roundtable will provide an engaging online venue for environmental professionals to weigh in on their vision for geospatial technologies' role in meeting the climate change crisis.

"GIS has the robust capacity and capability to design the building blocks for carbon accounting systems including data, models, and delivery systems," said Dangermond. "It provides the tools needed for analyzing environmental practices as well as developing and monitoring sustainable greenhouse gas reduction plans. GIS users represent a vast reservoir of knowledge, expertise, and best practices for applying this cornerstone technology to the science of climate change and understanding its impact on natural and human systems. I look forward to a lively online discussion at the Spatial Roundtable."

Dangermond, an environmentalist who is a strong advocate of sustainable environmental management, has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to developing technology for monitoring and managing sustainable systems. In so doing, his company, ESRI, or Environmental Systems Research Institute, has become the world's leader in GIS technology.
"I invite environmental professionals who use GIS in their work to visit the Spatial Roundtable to discuss how organizations and businesses use this technology to help us understand and respond to climate change," Dangermond said.

Dangermond kicked off the climate change conversation by asking, "What do you think are the benefits of using GIS technology to advance climate change science?" He has invited special contributors to join the discussion and invites site visitors to add their comments. The climate change topic discussion will be active from December 13, 2009, through January 31, 2010, and will remain accessible for review in the Spatial Roundtable archive through 2011.