Your weather app can’t save you — but a new system might

The following article is a guest post and opinion of Ting Peng, Head of Ecosystem at SkyX Network. What do you do when the weather app says light rain, but a flash flood tears through your town instead? You blame the app. Your rightful ire is a bit misplaced, though: It could very much be the data, or rather the lack thereof. In May 2023, fatal floods tore through parts of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, killing hundreds of individuals. Most had no idea the water was coming. Not because no one cared, but because the systems meant to alert the local communities simply didn’t have sufficient data to sound the alarm in time. This wasn’t just a tragedy; it was a wake-up call. If we want to build real weather resilience in the 21st century, we need to start by reassessing how we collect weather information. The good news? We already have the tools. The combination of Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN) and artificial intelligence may be the best way we can keep up with a climate that no longer plays by the rules.

Too Far, Too Late: Why Weather Warnings Miss the Mark

Most people don’t realize how patchy our current weather infrastructure really is. In many parts of the world, forecasts are based on data from just a few official weather stations, which are often miles away from the people they’re supposed to protect. That’s fine if you live near a station. But what if you don’t? What made the 2023 Lake Kivu floods so deadly wasn’t just the water, but also the overall lack of early warning. Rwanda had at least some meteorological data. Across the border in eastern DRC, there was virtually none. No local sensors. No alert systems. Just thousands of people living in flood-prone areas with no idea they were in danger. This isn’t uncommon. Globally, hundreds of millions of people live in what could be termed “information deserts”—places where weather patterns go unmonitored, unreported, and unpredicted.

AI Can’t Stop the Rain—But It Can Help You See It Coming

So how do we address this? What if instead of relying on a handful of government-run weather stations, we tapped into thousands of small, distributed weather sensors? That’s what DePIN enables: Community-powered networks where people contribute to physical infrastructure and are incentivized to do so. When coupled with AI, the potential becomes staggering. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)’s technical paper on AI for climate action explains that AI can aggregate and analyze real-time data from decentralized sources, identify hyperlocal patterns, detect anomalies like sudden temperature drops or unexpected rainfall, and help issue alerts that are truly relevant to people where they are. It’s the combination of scale and intelligence that makes this model so effective. Central systems will always be limited. But decentralized networks can grow organically wherever people are willing to plug in.

Don’t Change the System. Update It.

Skeptics may argue that decentralized data and using AI is messy or unreliable. That it requires strict oversight. But AI can actually excel at filtering out bad data, identifying inconsistencies, and learning from patterns across thousands of sources. This isn’t about replacing national meteorological agencies—it’s about assisting them. A meteorological agency can only install so many stations. But leverage a decentralized network, and suddenly their coverage multiplies. Their forecasts improve. Their warnings get sharper. Everyone wins.

Climate catastrophes are becoming more frequent and more severe. People most affected are often the least connected. More lives will be lost if we continue relying on central systems alone.

We Can’t Control the Climate—But We Can Control What Happens Next

When people die not because of a storm, but because they didn’t know it was coming, we’ve failed as a global community. That failure isn’t inevitable. Climate extremes are hitting the world’s most vulnerable people the hardest. And the cruel irony is that in many of these areas, enough weather warnings could have been issued… We just haven’t bothered to rethink the current model. We already have the tools to change the outcome. But tools don’t work unless we use them. We just need to decide: Do we want weather systems that serve everyone, or just the few within range of the radar?

Ting Peng
Ting Peng is a blockchain communications expert with over 7 years of experience in the industry. At SkyX Network, she leverages her expertise to articulate how decentralized infrastructure can solve real-world issues like inadequate weather monitoring systems. With a Master’s in Business Communication and deep understanding of blockchain technology, Ting provides valuable insights on how decentralized networks can address critical global challenges where traditional systems fall short.

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