Satellites reveal how the world is adapting to climate change

Satellite eyes are giving policymakers something they’ve never truly had for climate adaptation: consistent, global, long-term measurements that show whether actions on the ground are actually working.

An international team, including researchers from the University of Galway, has mapped how Earth observation from space can track adaptation.

The analysis, led by the European Space Agency (ESA), coincides with COP30. The research shows how pairing satellite data with artificial intelligence reveals changes across agriculture, biodiversity, extreme events, and health.

“The analysis highlights the vital and unique role satellites play in supporting the Paris Agreement’s Global Goal on Adaptation,” said study co-author Aaron Golden, a research team leader at Galway.

Satellites change the game

Adaptation is local, but most climate monitoring systems aren’t truly global or consistent over decades. That’s where satellites excel: they see remote farmlands and mangrove estuaries as readily as they do cities.

They revisit the same places frequently and they generate objective, comparable datasets that stretch back as far as 60 years for some variables.

The team shows that many Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) – the backbone of climate monitoring – can directly inform how communities, ecosystems, and infrastructure are coping with rising risks.

“Earth observation data should be considered an integral part of the Global Goal on Adaptation indicators,” said Sarah Connors, a climate applications scientist at ESA and lead author of the study.

“Our research demonstrates that satellite data can inform adaptation tracking across many sectors. But it must be integrated into the indicator framework from the outset – as experience with the Sustainable Development Goals shows, it’s much harder to introduce later.”

Nature’s changes from space

In agrifood systems, the study highlights practical metrics that satellites can deliver at scale. These include water productivity in crops, irrigation efficiency, and the shifting geography of cultivation as climate pressures rise.

Because these signals are visible from orbit, they fill data gaps in the most remote agricultural regions. These are places where ground surveys are sparse or prohibitively costly.

For biodiversity, global platforms built on Earth observation, such as Global Mangrove Watch and Global Forest Watch, already provide authoritative pictures of ecosystem extent and change.

According to experts, that same machinery can track restoration gains, pressures from encroachment, and the resilience of high-value habitats that buffer coasts and store carbon.

Satellites map risks to health

When it comes to extremes, satellites bring clarity you can’t get from isolated weather stations. Satellites can map flood footprints, drought anomalies, and urban heat-island intensity and compare them across cities, regions, and years.

That opens the door to evaluating whether green infrastructure, floodplain restoration, or heat action plans are reducing exposure over time.

Health is where the links may feel less obvious, but the satellite needles point there too. Land surface temperature and air quality data feed heat exposure assessments.

These are early warnings for vulnerable neighborhoods and even support disease forecasting. Satellites can see the signatures left by mosquito vectors, algal blooms, and dust transport.

Framework for global adaptation

The Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) under the Paris Agreement requires trustworthy, regularly updated indicators across borders.

The authors show how space data align with GGA targets and suggest ways to embed those indicators in national plans. Blending local data with a global layer lets us compare progress and risk consistently.

“This research exemplifies the world-class, impact-driven research emerging from the Ryan Institute and our growing Geospatial Center,” said Frances Fahy, the director of the University of Galway’s Ryan Institute.

“By using satellite Earth observation data to better understand global climate adaptation, Professor Golden’s work reinforces the vital role that cutting-edge interdisciplinary research plays in addressing the climate crisis.”

AI sharpens satellite climate insights

The Ryan Institute team is helping pioneer AI methods that turn raw satellite pixels into decision-ready adaptation metrics. This helps link observed changes in water use, vegetation health, or urban heat directly to policy targets.

Because these methods are transferable, they can evaluate “facts on the ground” in any country, including regions where traditional monitoring is thin.

“I am delighted by the impact our research has had in providing a direct means of linking facts on the ground, anywhere on the planet, to the Paris Agreement’s Global Goal on Adaptation indicators,” said Golden.

Satellites and climate adaptation

With COP30 squarely focused on translating pledges into measurable progress, the study’s message is blunt: integrate satellite indicators now, not later.

Doing so would give governments and financiers a shared scoreboard for adaptation. It would capture remote farms and dense cities and show whether interventions are bending risk curves.

Or, as the authors imply, adaptation without measurement is guesswork. Earth observation turns it into management.

The study is published in the journal npj Climate and Atmospheric Science.

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