Beyond the Forecast: Navigating Global Volatility with Weather Intelligence

“A change in the weather is sufficient to recreate the world and ourselves,” penned Marcel Proust in “In Search of Lost Time.” In other words, weather doesn't just change the scenery but fundamentally alters our reality — a sentiment that was surprisingly prophetic. In the current world, weather isn't just the background; it is one of the most volatile variables in the global economy. 

In global supply chains, for example, weather-driven disruptions at key transit points can lead to billions of dollars in lost revenue and increased operating costs. For example, in recent years droughts affecting water levels in the Panama Canal have created traffic jams that delayed delivery and raised the cost of goods globally. With 40% of US ships passing through the canal annually, analysts estimate a significant impact of higher transit fees or alternative routes, potentially recurring on a regular basis.. 

In agriculture, weather is not just an external factor; it is the primary driver of production volatility, waste and, ultimately, food insecurity. Weather-driven food waste on farms is staggering and getting worse. New research published in Nature reports that every additional degree Celsius of global warming on average will reduce the world’s ability to produce food by 120 kcals per person per day, or 4.4% of current daily recommended consumption. 

By leveraging weather data, AI allows organizations to "recreate" their operations to be proactive rather than reactive. Simulating weather patterns allows organizations to predict outcomes and plan accordingly. It also helps organizations better allocate their resources and ensure that they operate both efficiently and sustainably. Many organizations are pursuing a double bottom line, benefiting both profits and the planet. As many have discovered, “good” means better business. 

In the recent Snowflake webinar Good Means Better Business: A Playbook for Data-Driven Sustainability, Cargill Ocean Transport and the Met Office shared how Proust’s idea that weather "recreates the world" is their daily reality.  

Cargill Ocean Transport: Navigating the changing climate

For Cargill Ocean Transport, managing approximately 650 chartered vessels at any given time — and making sure they get to their destinations safely and on time — weather isn't just an environmental factor. It is a critical and volatile variable that dictates the efficiency of the company’s operations. And that’s important because shipping moves over 80% of global trade, connecting producers to markets, powering supply chains and underpinning the global economy. At the same time, shipping accounts for around 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions. When storms and headwinds cause delays in shipping, re-routing can save both time and fuel consumption — a win-win for the double bottom line. Cargill not only wants to get its ships to their destinations on time; it wants to do so sustainably. 

Cargill addresses this challenge with both physical innovation as well as digital innovation, and weather is a factor for both. On the physical side of things, Cargill Ocean Transport’s long term-chartered vessel, Pyxis Ocean, was retrofitted with two WindWings. These large solid wing sails measuring up to 37,5 meters in height harness the power of wind and have the potential to deliver double-digit percentage reductions in emissions.

The use of wind reduces fuel consumption immediately and reduces the carbon footprint of operations. As a result, the vessel is currently rated as the most efficient for its class, and it now provides a meaningful lever within a broader portfolio.

On the digital front, Cargill Ocean Transport has built a robust data platform with access to diverse data sources across its business. Its data and AI capabilities allow the teams to continuously track emissions trajectories, identify deviations almost immediately, intervene earlier and make forward-looking, data-informed decisions. They’ve shifted from reactive reporting to predictive management. 

But the value of better data doesn’t stop with internal operations. It directly translates into customer value. Cargill provides transparent, voyage-level visibility into not only its own but also its customers' carbon footprint, supporting customers in managing and reporting their Scope 3 emissions. The insights provided enable informed trade-offs between cost, risk and carbon. Decarbonization decisions are no longer made in isolation and can allow companies to deploy their data not only to optimize profits but also to help achieve their decarbonization goals. And one of the factors driving that optimization is weather. 

The Met Office: From observation to impact

At the Met Office, climate scientists help organizations navigate from observation to impact: What is happening? What will happen? Why will it happen? And what will be the impact? They collect 20 billion observations a day to assess what is happening around the world from the oceans up into the atmosphere. Then they translate those observations into what they mean. An area of low pressure leads to a thunderstorm, or a persistent high-pressure area causes drought. But as Rich Lawrence, Principal Fellow at the Met Office, pointed out, “No one really wants a forecast. They want to know what the impact will be. They want to overlay a forecast with other contextual information to understand how it will affect them.” 

For example, the Met Office’s National Severe Weather Warning Service offers guidance based on the impact of the UK weather rather than a threshold of the weather itself. Beyond the UK, the Met Office’s Global Spot Weather Forecasts offers site-specific forecasts for over 5,000 locations worldwide, including airports, major landmarks and beaches. For example, hospital and ambulance services use weather information to anticipate different types of accidents. Turns out air pressure is linked to the number of heart attacks and frosty weather to the number of hip replacements. Weather forecasts help predict demand for ambulances and hospital services and drive decisions around resources and staff planning.

The Met Office insights also inform decisions across different time frames — over the coming days, weeks, months and even decades in the case of long-term infrastructure investments. Take, for example, the retail industry. Long-term weather forecasts in specific areas might help plan where to place a store in the longer term or how to plan inventory in an intermediate term but also help determine pricing in the short term to prevent spoilage, move products faster and prevent food waste — another example of using data for good. 

Snowflake: Adding “Data for Good” to the marketplace

In addition to Met Office data, Snowflake has also recently added a “Data for Good” tag to Snowflake Marketplace to help organizations integrate social and environmental impact into their core business strategies. Data providers can now tag their listings with this category, and consumers can browse it directly from the Snowflake Marketplace homepage to explore data sets. ​​​​​​​This new “good” category features data sets from over 40 initial providers, including organizations such as S&P Global, MSCI and the United Nations, offering critical information on everything from global greenhouse gas emissions to detailed environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk scores.

By leveraging this live, "zero-copy" data, companies can move beyond static reporting to build dynamic sustainability models, such as tracking the carbon footprint of individual supply chain routes or identifying climate-resilience risks in their physical infrastructure. Ultimately, this initiative allows businesses to treat social impact not as a side project but as a measurable, data-driven asset that improves both the planet and the bottom line.

For more details, please tune in to the Snowflake webinar, Good Means Better Business: A Playbook for Data-Driven Sustainability.