Carbon Brief launched Project Cosmos this week—the world's largest database of climate science research, featuring one point eight million papers, books, and reports spanning more than a century. The database builds on a core of research cited by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which references over one hundred thousand works, and expands to capture the full landscape of climate knowledge. The data reveals who shapes climate science. Almost half of the five hundred most-cited authors work in US institutions. Researchers from Global South countries represent just four percent of the most-cited names, while women account for ten percent. The most-cited climate scientist is Philippe Ciais, known for his decades-long study of the carbon cycle. This infrastructure launch arrives amid political pressure on science itself. At UN climate talks in Bonn last week, dozens of countries called out what they described as coordinated attacks on the scientific process. India and Saudi Arabia resisted calls for research on whether warming might temporarily exceed one point five degrees—suggesting some nations see science as an impediment to negotiation. The pressure is intensifying. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced El Niño has officially begun and could rank among the strongest ever recorded. Scientists disagree on whether climate change is amplifying El Niño intensity or if recent strong events are coincidental. And the stakes are clear: research this week found that the world's wealthiest ten percent of consumers account for one point seven to five point seven trillion dollars of environmental damage annually.

Listen to this story

Hear this and more stories in a personalized audio briefing.

Open The Chonkerton