MyIKLIM: Bridging the Gap in Public Understanding and Promoting Climate Change Awareness Through a Centralized Platform

Abstract

Climate change poses significant threat to Malaysia's environment, society, and economy. Despite the urgency of climate mitigation and adaptation efforts in Malaysia, a limited climate database system is available to coordinate the data and information from various stakeholders. Data-based models and decision support systems would offer a comprehensive understanding of climate change. The MyIKLIM (https://myiklimysd.ukm.my/) is launched as a one-stop data curation portal for climate data in Malaysia to tackle this issue, . It aims to gather Malaysia’s climate-related research data under a single, accessible and resourceful platform. MyIKLIM collects and curates published data from government agencies, research institutions, and global organizations, to provide data that suit the local context such as climate trends, air quality, marine weather, land use land cover, etc. By centralizing this information, MyIKLIM enhances the accessibility and usability of reliable, up-to-date climate data for diverse user groups, including researchers, policymakers, and even the general public. Designed with a user-friendly interface, the portal is accessible to a wider audience to empower citizen science for the users to engage more easily to understand climate-related information. This broad accessibility helps foster public awareness and informed decision-making about the impacts of climate change in Malaysia. MyIKLIM not only ease the search for relevant national climate-related data but also assists in making data-driven decisions and policies, as well as raises public awareness. It also ensures that climate change information is open, intuitive and clear for all.