HEALTH

Anyone interested in reading what's being said on Twitter about the Copenhagen Climate Talks faces a monumental task because everyone on the planet seems to have at least one opinion.

But an online tool released by Purdue University sorts through all of the Twitter talk to show which comments are the most popular, as well as providing other information about the global conversation.

The Need4Feed Web site shows all of the tweets related to the meeting, as well as sorting through the tweets to display which are the most popular, who is posting the most tweets, which links are the most popular and other helpful information.

Anyone can follow the conversation by going to http://www.need4feed.com/Copenhagen

Users do not need a Twitter account or be following the commenters on Twitter to see what's being said. Those who are Twitter users can login to their account directly from the Web site as well.

Need4Feed analyzes all tweets that include the #cop15 hashtag, which is the official Twitter hashtag for the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. About 15,000 people are currently meeting in Denmark's capital city to create a global plan to mitigate harmful emissions. The meeting ends Dec. 18.

Need4Feed is a valuable tool for cutting through the noise and understanding the global conversation on climate change, says Gerry McCartney, Purdue's vice president for information technology, chief information officer, and Olga Oesterle England Professor of Information Technology.

"Universities have a responsibility not only to educate our students but to also inform the public," McCartney says. "Purdue is a leader in using emerging technologies in the classroom, and boosting the global conversation about the Copenhagen Climate Talks is also an important use of these Purdue-developed tools."

Need4Feed lists all of the messages tagged for the climate change conference in one window, and a second window ranks Tweets about the meeting in several different ways, including:

* the most popular tweets

* the most re-tweeted messages

* the most active conversations

* the most popular Web site links included in tweets

* the most popular secondary hashtags

* the individuals who have posted the most messages

* images sent with the meeting hashtag

Kevin Gurney, an associate professor of earth and atmospheric sciences who is among the Purdue faculty and students attending the global climate talks, pushed for using Purdue-developed social media tools to enhance the global conversation.

"The climate change treaty and the issue of global warming will have an impact on everyone's life," Gurney says. "Understanding what these talks mean for the United States and the average citizen is crucial in moving forward with domestic action on climate change."

Gurney was one of 2,500 scientists worldwide who shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, alongside former Vice President Al Gore, in recognition of their efforts on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was established by the United Nations and the World Meteorological Organization.

Gurney and other faculty and students affiliated with the Purdue Climate Change Research Center will be blogging about the meeting at http://www.purdue.edu/climate/