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Build a Global Earth Observatory COMMENT Second, to foster creativity, we plan to support people who want to work in new areas — especially young researchers JUHO AALTO setting up their own labs. Most scientists do their most creative work at this early stage of their careers. But — understand- ably — it’s often hard to obtain funding unless you can demonstrate expertise in a particular area. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative could fill a niche by taking on more risks than other funders. That risk is worthwhile if it brings people into bio- medical areas in which the need is great but current research is narrowly directed. Unfortunately, disease-relevant fields can be some of the hardest to break into for someone with a new idea or approach. Certain disease foundations, such as the Hereditary Disease Foundation for Hun- tington’s disease or the Simons Founda- tion Autism Research Initiative, have done this well in the past. But we think that there is room to scale up this model to many other biomedical problems. Finally, on openness. We believe that research advances when people build An enclosure for measuring gas exchange between plants and the atmosphere at a station in Finland. on each others’ work. So our princi- ples include making data, protocols, reagents and code freely available for other scientists to use. As an example of this approach, the HCA has com- Build a global mitted to making its reference data publicly available after quality-control checks. Indeed, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative engineering team and our Earth observatory HCA collaborators are building all of Markku Kulmala calls for continuous, comprehensive the software for the ‘data coordination’ monitoring of interactions between the planet’s arm of the project on the open-source platform Github. surface and atmosphere. We’re also supporting external groups that share these values and goals. For instance, we’re funding bioRxiv, the larg- limate change. Water and food The result is a cacophony of information est and fastest-growing preprint reposi- security. Urban air pollution. These that yields little insight. It is like trying to tory for the biological sciences — and a environmental grand challenges are forecast weather in November with spotty leader in bringing biology towards the Call linked, yet each is studied separately. measurements of rain, wind, temperature or level of sharing that’s expected in the Interactions between Earth’s surface and pressure from June. physical and computer sciences. the atmosphere influence climate, air quality The answer is a global Earth observatory The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is and water cycles. Changes in one affect the — 1,000 or more well-equipped ground just starting, and we have a lot to learn. others. For example, increasing carbon diox- stations around the world that track But I’ve been lucky to work in areas in ide enhances photosynthesis. As they grow, environments and key ecosystems fully which the free exchange of ideas and plants withdraw greenhouse gases from the and continuously. Data from these stations results is the norm. In my experience, atmosphere, but they also release volatile would be linked to data from satellite-based such an approach creates the most organic compounds such as monoterpenes. remote sensing, laboratory experiments and dynamic fields. Now I have the chance These speed up the formation of aerosol par- computer models. to lead a new funding venture, and to ticles, which reflect sunlight back into space. Researchers could find new mechanisms explore whether openness or dynamism Our actions — such as emission-control and feedback loops6 in this coherent data set. comes first. After all, as scientists we policies, urbanization and forestry — also Policymakers could test policies and their do experiments; as funders, we can do affect the atmosphere, land and seas1–5. impacts. Companies could develop envi- experiments too. ■ Satellites and stations on the ground track ronmental services. Early warnings could greenhouse gases, ecosystem responses, be provided for extreme weather, and quick Cori Bargmann is president of science particulate matter or ozone independently responses initiated during and just after at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in Palo of each other. Coupled observations are chemical accidents. Alto, California; and professor of genetics, occasionally performed, but in intensive A global observatory has been discussed neuroscience and behaviour at the bouts. Vast areas of the globe — including for more than a decade, but is only now Rockefeller University, New York, USA. Africa, eastern Eurasia and South America feasible7. Instruments have matured; for e-mail: [email protected] — are barely sampled. example, today’s mass spectrometers ©2017 Mac millan Publishers Li mited, part of Spri nger Nature. All ri ghts reserved. ©2017 Mac millan Publishers Li mited, part of Spri nger Nature. All ri ght4s rJANUARYeserved. 2018 | VOL 553 | NATURE | 21 COMMENT can measure thousands of atmospheric change is rapidly altering their environments. chemicals at once. My team and our collabo- There is much we don’t know. How rapidly rators have shown how a rounded set of envi- will permafrost disappear? Does Arctic ronmental measurements can be obtained greening sequester carbon or produce aero- Four at one station, called SMEAR II (Station for sols? Will methane emissions increase drasti- Measuring Ecosystem-Atmosphere Relation- cally, and so ramp up global warming? ships), in the boreal forests of Finland. In this region, as elsewhere, researchers hot spots Regional initiatives to combine and need to observe aerosols together with Setting up stations to monitor air, soil and ecosystems across Eurasia, Africa, South America broaden space- and ground-based monitoring greenhouse gases (such as CO2 and methane) and in major cities would ll crucial gaps in a are established well enough to roll out simi- and other trace gases (volatile organic com- global observatory network. lar stations globally. These include PEEX (the pounds, nitrogen oxides, ozone, sulfur diox- Pan Eurasian Experiment) and the DBAR ide, carbon monoxide and ammonia). Two 3 (Digital Belt and Road), a research initiative stations are starting to increase the range of related to China’s One Belt and One Road observations that they can make: the Tiksi 4 Initiative — a development strategy covering Hydrometeorological Observatory in the 2 a swathe of 65 countries between China and River Lena delta in eastern Russia and the 1 Europe that reaches as far south as Kenya. The Zotino Tall Tower Observatory (ZOTTO) World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in southwest Siberia, 500 kilometres from is taking steps to establish a global observa- Tomsk. Ideally, to cover the region, around tory. And the urgency is here: carbon emis- 30 comprehensive stations will be needed, sions must decline after 2020 (ref. 8). spaced 1,000 kilometres apart. A global 1 African nations such as Somalia need The scale of the enterprise remains observatory must appear on the agendas of better monitoring of water cycles to improve daunting. It requires a wholesale shift in upcoming meetings of the Russian govern- strategies that help to retain soil moisture. how environmental data are collected and ment and the Arctic Council. disseminated. Africa. The continent’s population is AN INTEGRATED NETWORK increasing fast — it has doubled since 1987, Incomplete coverage from ground stations and it reached 1.2 billion people in 2015. is the main limit to observations of Earth’s Meanwhile, once-fertile areas have become conditions. Satellites can continuously mon- dry, challenging water and food supplies and itor some compounds, such as CO2, ozone requiring strategies to store rainwater and and aerosols, almost planet-wide. But they retain soil moisture9. Water and other bio- cannot resolve processes or fluxes, or trace geochemical cycles need to be understood the hundreds more compounds of inter- better. But monitoring in Africa is limited est. Satellite data must be ‘ground-truthed’. mainly to short-term observations of carbon Models need data to validate them. sinks and sources (by the global network Current networks of ground stations have FLUXNET) and to some air-quality obser- been set up without considering the big pic- vations that measure about a dozen variables. ture. Each discipline or team designs and A minimum of 30 stations should be built builds stations to suit its purpose. Green- in Africa. These must comprise at least one 1 house gases, atmospheric chemicals and in each main ecosystem that is relevant to ecosystems are monitored at different sites. food and water, including rainforests, savan- Funding agencies focus on national interests. nahs and semi-deserts. Prime sites should The SMEAR II station takes a more be identified with local organizations and Cities. Urban areas are growing: the urban integrated approach. Using state-of-the- scientists. United Nations organizations, population has tripled since 1970. More than art atmospheric mass spectrometers, cloud development banks and private foundations 55% of the global population lives in urban radars and lidars (light detection and rang- that work in Africa should add their support. areas. Better data on air quality is a particu- ing instruments), it observes more than larly pressing need. Currently, fewer than 1,000 variables. These include greenhouse South America. The Amazon basin is a 15 variables are typically observed at sites in gases, trace gases and aerosols, as well as crucial place to monitor, owing to its vast urban areas, and the data quality is often poor. indicators of photosynthesis, soil tempera- area and influence on global carbon and More than 30 megacities worldwide each ture, moisture and nutrient gradients. hydrological cycles. It forms its own climate contain greater than 10 million people, and The challenge is to set up similar stations system, which is changing10 as a result of hundreds of cities have populations in the around the world — and to incorporate agricultural expansion and deforestation. millions. Each large metropolis should have local expertise.
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