Using NASA World Wind to Teach Climate Change and Human Health

Global temperatures continue to climb, reshaping precipitation patterns, accelerating glacial melt, and contributing to rising sea levels. These observable shifts signal profound transformations in Earth’s climate system. As environmental conditions evolve, societies must interpret evidence, anticipate consequences, design mitigation strategies, and adapt to new realities. Preparing current and future generations to understand and respond to these changes requires accessible, data-driven educational tools.

With support from NASA’s Innovations in Climate Education initiative, the Institute for the Application of Geospatial Technology (IAGT) at Cayuga Community College partnered with the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) at Columbia University’s Earth Institute to develop the Climate and Health ANalysis for Global Education Viewer—known as the CHANGE Viewer. Built using NASA World Wind, the application integrates climate science, socio-economic indicators, and public health datasets into a single interactive platform designed for classroom use.

Integrating Climate and Socio-Economic Data

The CHANGE Viewer supports analytical exploration of how environmental changes intersect with human systems. Students can examine scenarios such as how altered precipitation patterns may affect maize or rice production, or how shifts in temperature and rainfall could expand habitats suitable for malaria-carrying mosquitoes. By linking climate projections with socio-economic data, learners evaluate impacts on food security, water access, migration, and disease exposure.

NASA World Wind provides the 3D globe visualization environment, enabling users to explore spatial data interactively. Through Java Web Start technology, the application ensures that users access the most current version without complex installations. Updates incorporate web-accessible, OGC-compliant services, keeping datasets current and interoperable.

The tool consolidates two existing resources: the Population Estimation Service developed by NASA’s Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC), operated by CIESIN, and the Climate Mapper originally created by IAGT for the SERVIR project. By merging these systems, the CHANGE Viewer allows population statistics and demographic analyses to be evaluated alongside climate and health data. Users can assess global population grids, potential migration linked to sea-level rise, access to public health infrastructure, and malnutrition risks associated with agricultural disruption.

The Population Estimation Service functions as a Web Processing Service (WPS), generating demographic statistics within user-defined boundaries. Through the CHANGE Viewer, students can estimate populations affected by projected sea-level rise or other climate-related hazards and overlay those results with additional thematic layers for deeper interpretation.

Meanwhile, the Climate Mapper component incorporates historical climate records (1901–2002 and 1961–1990 baselines) and projections for the 2030s and 2050s. Data derived from the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit are interpolated onto a 0.5-degree global grid. This structure supports vulnerability assessments and adaptation planning exercises.

Managing Data Complexity

A key challenge for the project lies in data management. With expanding archives and overlapping spatial datasets, educators often lack time and institutional resources to navigate extensive repositories. To address this, IAGT and CIESIN maintain a shared data environment that curates relevant, classroom-ready datasets. This centralized management allows teachers to concentrate on instruction rather than technical integration.

The distributed Java-based solution further enhances accessibility. Platform independence ensures compatibility across operating systems, including macOS and Windows. Web-based distribution eliminates the need for physical downloads or extensive IT administration once baseline requirements are met. Automatic updates through Java Web Start maintain version consistency without manual configuration.

Connecting Science to Curriculum

By unifying socio-economic data from SEDAC, climate datasets from SERVIR, and demographic estimation tools within a single portal, the CHANGE Viewer strengthens connections between environmental science and human systems. Educators can incorporate activities aligned with national science and geography standards, supporting topics such as desertification, infectious disease dynamics, food security, migration, natural disasters, sea-level rise, and water resource management.

These thematic investigations emphasize real-world challenges. Students explore how agricultural productivity shifts may influence nutrition, how freshwater availability changes under warming scenarios, and how disease vectors expand into new regions. Such analyses foster critical thinking and evidence-based reasoning.

Supporting Teacher Confidence

To facilitate effective classroom integration, IAGT and CIESIN offer professional development workshops for secondary educators. Through summer training sessions, teachers learn to apply the CHANGE Viewer within structured lesson plans focused on climate and health. The workshops enhance educators’ understanding of the scientific relationships between environmental change and human well-being while building technical proficiency with geospatial tools.

By combining robust spatial datasets, analytical functionality, and structured instructional resources, the CHANGE Viewer equips educators and students to engage meaningfully with climate science. Through interactive investigation, learners gain insight into the interconnected systems shaping global resilience in a changing world.