Addressing climate change with data: the good, the bad, and the (un)certain

Climate change is here to stay but there is, by now, plenty of data available which can be used to address both the physical and transition risks associated with it, write Dr Jannis Hoch, senior hydrologist and Conor Lamb, catastrophe model developer at climate risk specialist Fathom.

These data have the potential to tell us a lot and must be central in our approaches to tackling climate change. However, the production, processing and usage of such data involves a multitude of limitations and uncertainties that must be considered for effective and informed decision making. Within this context, the communication of uncertainties, limitations and modeling decisions must become as valued as the data itself. It is only then that these data can be used at their full potential.