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From Remote Coral Reefs to Your Sofa, Citizen Science Spreads Everywhere

There’s never been so many options to contribute to expanding scientific knowledge of global warming.

An amateur diver participates in the Resmed citizen science project to count fishes off the Medes Islands in Spain in July 2020.

An amateur diver participates in the Resmed citizen science project to count fishes off the Medes Islands in Spain in July 2020.

Photographer: Jordi Regàs (Club d’Immersió Biologia)

Whether diving off a private yacht in a remote latitude or having a quiet night in at home, citizens of the planet are contributing to the scientific study of climate change through extraordinary and also mundane ways. 

Citizen science — which involves crowd-sourcing data for scientific research — got a boost during the early days of coronavirus pandemic lockdowns. As the skies cleared and cities went silent, people started to notice their impact on the world around them. And many of these casual observers — thanks to smartphones and internet access — have found ways to add their findings to scientific work.