D4TC: Anthropocene | Data | Climate Science

'Nature always appears in the rear-view mirror, as a reflection of that which recedes from this juggernaut of an SUV in which we rattle on into the future.'

So personally, this reading on climate change and the anthropocene was rough to get through. Throughout undergrad I witnessed a lot of discussions, disputes, and protests over climate change. I am so happy that there are many people making known the gravity of the situation and are alerting us of these necessary changes that need to happen. Personally, reading about climate change is so dull to me. Nat Geo videos and documentaries are about the only way I can truly grasp this situation without completely tuning out. So needless to say this reading was brutal, but a couple of takeaways that I got from it is that the biggest difference between climate science and particle physics, is all in the data. For climate science all worldly and spatial data needs to be taken into consideration. This is no small thing, how does one even go about organizing such data?

‘Climate Science requires a theory and a method of studying the means of production of its own data.’

That quote is way easier said than done. Take away #2: during the various World Wars and Cold War a lot of climate data was collected stored as intelligence data. In this day and age its obvious how the more data you posses the more backlash, warnings, and threats you’ll receive. Facebook… case and point.

‘More data seems also always to mean more resistance. There are limits to observability.’

When reading this in the text, I immediately thought of the Panopticon and how the most power lies within the control of the one who sees the most.

Do you think there are limits to observability? Where is the line?

(my thoughts on this topic)