Shockwave from Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai volcano measured in Germany – an examplary event to think about

Our air knows no boundaries and it is quite exhilarating to see that the shockwaves produced by the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai volcano eruption almost 16.800km away were measured by our instruments deployed around Frankfurt (see chart). The shockwave travelled almost 16 hours. Not only that, but it seems that the same shockwave travelled around the globe and reached the same point another 18 hours later!

Why this is relevant? This exemplifies that our atmosphere knows no boundaries. And that events from emissions to eruptions ripple across the globe. Some of these events happen in slow motion, but they do happen and do have a measurable effect today.

The environment and human activities remain perpetually intertwined, so it is a logical step that we need to bring environmental data into our decision making today and kickstart a feedback loop of data into insights, insights into policies, policies into applications being the starting point for behavioural changes. And here we are again at the beginning of the loop: How our behaviour does change the environment.

This requires new approaches, which go beyond a historic reporting of events and effects. Timely provided insights are needed to trigger behavioural changes. These insights need to be comprehensive – i.e. considering impacts globally – but still meaningful for each individual. They need to consider multiple cross effects, but still, come down to actionable insights.

New business models emerge to support this, providing information, which we need to enhance our effectiveness. These new business models are required to address global challenges, such as climate change, which are caused and influenced by the very individual behaviour of regions, cities, and persons.

(Source for video: space.com)