Calling all data lovers, tree-huggers, app-builders, and students in need of class projects!

The Federal government just launched a new division of its Data.gov website to deal with what Secretary of State John Kerry called:

“The greatest challenge of our generation.”

The website? Climate.data.gov. The issue? Climate change. 

In a fact sheet released Wednesday, the White House stated:

“President Obama is committed to ensuring that communities across America have access to the information and tools they need.”

So what types of “information” and “tools” can be found on this website?

Since Climate.data.gov is still in the pilot phase, most of the information focuses on a single topic: sea level rise. Like the rest of the data.gov website, climate.data.gov functions mainly as a portal to information on other government sites. 

There is something for every type of researcher, from climate scientist to concerned citizen, but distinguishing between the easily accessible and more academic tools is difficult. Here are a few highlights from the pilot phase:

1. The sea level rise visualizer provides a chilling glimpse into a future with seas up to six feet higher than today. 

2. NOAA’s land cover atlas allows the user to find data on land use and land use change for most counties in the United States. 

3. The “data” portal gives access to a wealth of climate-related downloadable datasets.

4. The 2014 Space Apps Challenge offers aspiring programmers the opportunity to hone their skills on any of several dozen earth and space related programming challenges (for example: build an app to quantify pollution levels based on sky color), and submit their solutions. 

So does this mean the Obama administration is finally stepping up its game on climate change? Should an entire section of Data.gov be devoted to climate? How will you use Climate.data.gov?