Digital platform “Viewing Climate Change from Space” presented to public
Azercosmos has presented to the public its digital climate platform on the impact of global climate change on Azerbaijan. The platform was presented at the conference dedicated to the “Year of Solidarity for a Green World”.
It should be noted that comparative analyses of climate change based on space images were conducted on a digital platform developed in two languages. The analyses on the platform cover five areas – snow cover and glaciers, water resources, drought and salinity, agricultural areas and climate change.
The conference, which was attended by government agencies, private companies that put climate issues on the agenda, educational institutions and media representatives, stated that global climate change has not left our country unaffected.
Thus, the average annual temperature in Azerbaijan has increased over the last 100 years. According to satellite imagery analysis, over the last 7 years, an average 18 per cent reduction in glacier area has been observed in the Greater Caucasus, Lesser Caucasus and Talysh Mountains. Analysis of satellite images shows that the level of the Caspian Sea has decreased by two metres over the last 30 years. An assessment of drought level in the country found that 15 per cent of Azerbaijan’s territory is at very high risk of drought. According to space monitoring of fires in the country, a total of 10,563 hectares of land burned last year. Also, the amount of harmful gases that change the composition of the atmosphere is increasing from year to year.
Sameddin Asadov, Chairman of the Board of Azercosmos, noted that the first such detailed digital report on climate change in our country based on space monitoring was created thanks to the Azersky satellite. “Satellite resources are optimal in terms of material costs and resources for effective assessment of large, hard-to-reach areas,” he added.
Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Umayra Taghiyeva, Director of the Geographic Information Systems Center of Azercosmos Ismet Bakhishov, Head of the Land Use Control Department of the Ministry of Agriculture Firidun Taghiyev, Advisor to the Chairman of the State Water Resources Agency of Azerbaijan Asad Shirinov, Country Manager of UN Global Compact in Azerbaijan Samir Mammadov delivered reports on the dynamics and consequences of climate change in Azerbaijan.
As part of the conference, along with the digital climate report, Azercosmos announced the adoption of its Green Policy Document. Thus, Azercosmos, which joined the UN Global Compact initiatives last year, in its operations seeks to minimize the environmental impact of developing, launching, operating spacecraft in orbit and managing space objects.
