Visualization of total carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere in 2021. Photo: NASA

U.S leaders launched the new U.S. Greenhouse Gas Center this week as part of the United Nations Climate Conference (COP28), to serve as a hub for public and private partnerships on greenhouse gasses. The center is led by NASA with initial parters, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The center will consolidate greenhouse gas (GHG) information from observation and models from the International Space Station, satellite and airborne missions, and ground stations. The center will help researchers and policymakers understand GHG datasets and better use them to fight climate change. 

The digital center is built on open source principles and its datasets, algorithms, and supporting code are fully open sourced so anyone can test the data, algorithms, and results. The center is part of an effort from the Biden administration to improve greenhouse gas information. The White House recently released a national strategy on GHG measurement. 

“NASA data is essential to making the changes needed on the ground to protect our climate,” commented NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “The U.S. Greenhouse Gas Center is another way the Biden-Harris Administration is working to make critical data available to more people – from scientists running data analyses, to government officials making decisions on climate policy, to members of the public who want to understand how climate change will affect them.”