Why Preserving Photographic Evidence of Climate Change is a Priority

Photographic preservation of climate change data is a priority at ScanMyPhotos.com and why digitizing government agencies’ pictures are being provided without charge

glaciers
This photo of disappearing glaciers was captured by Ameer Boii

(Irvine, CA) Scientific evidence for warming the climate system is unequivocal. Climate change is real.

As Andrew Freeman at Mashable explains:

For the second time since 2000, the U.S. is poised to pull out of a major climate treaty that the country itself fought hard for. Unlike the last time this happened with the Kyoto Protocol in 2001, however, the Paris Climate Agreement, which President Donald Trump is preparing to pull the U.S. out of, is widely viewed as the last, best chance the world has to avoid potentially catastrophic global warming. Also unlike Kyoto, the new agreement is entirely voluntary, making a withdrawal even more extreme. Scientists think that global climate change if left unchecked, could bring withering droughts, more intense storms, devastating sea level rise, and more frequent and severe heat waves to many parts of the globe.

Alexander C. Kaufman, climate reporter at The Huffington Post wrote:

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt proposed a new rule Tuesday to overhaul the way science is used to write regulations at the agency, disqualifying huge amounts of peer-reviewed public health research and giving favor to industry-funded studies. The new rule, widely condemned by scientists and environmental groups as an “attack on science.”  In a twist for an event billed as a step forward in transparency, Pruitt took no questions, and the EPA did not invite reporters from major news outlets to attend. The agency did not immediately release a copy of the proposal or respond to questions about when it would become public, issuing only a press release containing seven soundbites praising the rule.

UPDATE:

  1. Trump Signs Executive Order Unwinding Obama Climate Policies.
  2. Our response to why the coal industry has been replaced by cleaner and newer renewable energy technologies.
  3. White House official: Trump plans to pull the US from Paris deal

Beyond words, what are you doing to protect and support science – showing that carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels contribute to global warming? Decades of scientific data may be destroyed due to the Trump administration’s dowdy demands that politics quash facts.

Recently, the White House was looking at having the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) take down its website with educational resources and links to climate-change data. This vital data from the EPA and other federal agencies – charged with safeguarding clean, livable air and water – have a reservoir of research that may disappear. There are millions of analog photographs from research into the effects of climate change on public health, the environment, and natural disasters. The pictures don’t lie, but they represent a treasure trove of essential information on how our world is changing. Archived analog photos are used by scientists and educators worldwide, yet they are at risk of being literally destroyed.

As the Trump administration seeks to tighten controls and discourage dissenting views on climate change, American businesses are raising their voice and responding. Scanmyphotos.com is now providing free photo scanning for preserving these records. Details below.

drought
Dry creekbed in California during the great drought period

“We cannot risk scrubbing decades of penetrating data to support the scientific integrity of climate change,” explains Mitch Goldstone, President & CEO of ScanMyPhotos.com. While the photo digitization company has professionally preserved more than 500 million pictures, this new project to archive photographic evidence that climate change is real is being provided without cost to all federal agencies, research institutes and universities to digitally preserve photo documentation on the science of climate change.

Since ScanMyPhotos.com announced its national initiative to provide free photo scanning for work related to climate change — before years of work disappear and fades away due to threats from the Trump administration – our photo digitization company has already scanned more than 50,000 related photos.

“We cannot risk all that has been done to alert people on the authenticated risks from the study of climate change. Digitally archiving the photographic evidence is a project which we are actively supporting. My hope is our advocacy sparks a catalyst for other businesses to equally engage in protecting all the work that has been studied on climate change,” said Goldstone.

Three areas federal agencies that are responding to these pressing issues include:

● Cut carbon pollution;
● Prepare the United States for the impacts of climate change; and
● Lead international efforts to address global climate change.

The fourth way to respond is by preserving data, which includes digitizing decades of analog photographic evidence. This is a directory of federal agencies which are being supported with free photographic digitization services by ScanMyPhotos.com, which has professionally digitized more than 400 million pictures for companies, governmental agencies, and families worldwide:

flood
This photo of a flooded Death Valley was captured by Tuxyso / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0.

• U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) – USDA’s regional hubs deliver information to farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners to help them adapt to climate change and weather variability.

U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) – The U.S. Department of Interior assist natural resource managers in responding to climate change:

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – NOAA’s program supports research teams that help expand and build the nation’s capacity to prepare for and adapt to climate variability and change.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – The EPA’s 10 regional offices across the country are responsible for special environmental programs.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has eight Division Offices across the country that are engaged in climate-change preparedness.

NASA Global Climate Change – Data on NASA’s vital signs of the planet related to global climate change and global warming.

Just how fast is the ScanMyPhotos professional photo digitization experience? This fast:

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LOS ANGELES TIMES

USA TODAY

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

THE NEW YORK TIMES

AARP THE MAGAZINE

KTLA-5 TV NEWS 

MORE…

For more information on how to have your organization’s pictures — related to the study of climate change — digitized without charge, and for accredited journalists, please contact Support @ ScanMyPhotos.com. For background, visit ScanMyPhotos.com.