How IoT is an essential tool against climate change

PAGE |8

I SPOKE TO RACHEL WAKEFIELD

Business Development Manager at CENSIS, who said that the opportunities IoT technology presents for supporting key sectors like food production, water management, and forestry “cannot be overstated”. She relayed to me the multi-faceted role IoT sensors deployed in the field globally play. Against a backdrop of climate change bringing unpredictable weather patterns, hotter and wetter seasons, integral industries are feeling the strain, and sensing solutions are stepping forward to provide crucial insights to combat this unpredictability. From monitoring invasive species to fire detection and water management, sensors play an important role in providing data down to the minutiae that help with preventative measures. “In forestry and agriculture, the growing threat of invasive species and pests due to changing weather is causing serious damage to food, crops, and woodland,” Wakefield explained. “To combat this, IoT is being deployed to monitor environmental variables such as wind speed and direction, helping to forecast where pests might land and traps that can confirm the case. Traps

Rachael Wakefield, Business Development Manager at CENSIS. Source: CENSIS