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Socio-economic data for global environmental change research

Subnational socio-economic datasets are required if we are to assess the impacts of global environmental changes and to improve adaptation responses. Institutional and community efforts should concentrate on standardization of data collection methodologies, free public access, and geo-referencing.

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Figure 1: A comparison of the Global Hunger Index (GHI) and the Spatially Explicit Hunger Index (SEHI).

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Acknowledgements

We dedicate this paper to the memory of Professor Ulrich Beck (1944–2015), the pioneer of cosmopolitan social science in a world of global climate risks.

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Correspondence to Ilona M. Otto.

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Otto, I., Biewald, A., Coumou, D. et al. Socio-economic data for global environmental change research. Nature Clim Change 5, 503–506 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2593

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