International Environmental Data Rescue Organization (IEDRO) was certified as a 501(c)(3) non-profit on April 12, 2005. IEDRO estimates that the world loses hundreds of thousands of critical weather records every day, particularly in underdeveloped countries, due to improper storage, loss and deterioration. These data tell the stories of past weather events - extreme winds, precipitation and storms - and could be used to better predict drought, floods, the spread of disease (malaria, West Nile virus, yellow fever), and the impacts of climate change. Without the rescue of and access to this data, regions suffer unnecessary loss of infrastructure, agriculture, the economy and human life.IEDRO's mission is to locate, rescue (image), digitize, archive and share historic weather data across the globe, in areas of need, for the purpose of supporting applications in agriculture, infrastructure planning, disease prevention and climate change. By rescuing and digitizing past extreme weather events (i.e. extreme winds, precipitation, storms), IEDRO empowers local decision-makers to adapt their infrastructure and agriculture to weather phenomena while also better predicting the path of airborne disease. IEDRO believes that, when used regionally, rescued environmental data can reduce humankind's suffering and death more than any other endeavor.HOW?We strive to rescue and digitize at-risk historical environmental data throughout the world by:> Locating and rescuing (imaging) weather and other environmental data stored on perishable media;> Digitizing historical environmental data> Ensuring the digitized data are available for operational and research applications to its host country as well as to the international scientific community.> Educating sponsoring country government officials and local farmers how to use their country's data to improve forecasts and warning systems, change community planning, and prevent the spread of wind-borne diseases.