Climate Change and COSMO-SkyMed

On the occasion of the VIII session of the Open Working Group on the Sustainable Development Goals, and in connection with the high-level event "Healthy Oceans and Seas: a way forward", the Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations presents the video installation "Climate Change and COSMO-SkyMed" to draw attention on the dramatic impact of climate change on our planet, particularly on small islands and glaciers.
COSMO-SkyMed is a constellation of four radar satellites with the capacity to observe the Earth in any weather conditions during day and night.
The pictures of great beauty that you can observe in this video-installation are high resolution satellite images and are meant to inspire us to reflect on the future of our Earth and, more importantly, on what we can do to preserve its health.
The wealth of information collected through satellite observations cannot be ignored. Glaciers and atolls, beautiful and fragile as they are, are greatly affected by climate change and its many consequences: ice-melting, sea-level rise and coral bleaching among others.
The images displayed here show how much the Arctic ice cap has been declining both in extent and thickness: in recent years, even the fabled North-West Passage has become fully navigable for several weeks during summertime. Furthermore, the glaciers from the continental ice caps of Greenland, Patagonia and Antarctica are flowing faster and faster towards the ocean.
Due to ice melting and the resulting rise in sea level, some islands in the Pacific Ocean could be under water by the end of this century. Displayed in the video installation are the changes occurring on tiny atolls like Funafuti (Tuvalu), Bikini and Majuro (Marshall Islands).
Finally, climate change makes natural events increasingly extreme and destructive. The tropical cyclones which hit the Philippines in November 2013 and Tonga in January 2014 are recent, dramatic examples of this reality. Satellite images also allow for rapid damage assessment, thus helping rescue teams and humanitarian efforts.
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COSMO-SkyMed © ASI, distributed and processed by e-GEOS
GeoEye-1 © DigitalGlobe, distributed and processed by e-GEOS
Landsat and MODIS ©Nasa processed by e-GEOS