Creating digital copies of entire countries could be a way to salvage information about climate change.

The Pacific island nation of Tuvalu is planning to create a version of itself in the metaverse as rising sea levels threaten its physical existence. Tuvalu’s Minister of Justice, Communications and Foreign Affairs, Simon Kofe, recently said at the COP27 climate conference that creating a digital twin of Tuvalu could preserve the country’s culture. It’s part of a growing interest in creating digital copies of everything from physical objects to complex systems.

“There’s probably no better way to simulate ‘what if’ scenarios than with digital twin technology,” Bob Rogers, CEO of Oii.ai, a data science company that uses digital twins, told Lifewire in an email interview. “Digital twins essentially create a replica of the environment you want to test. And once they’re created, AI systems can run scenarios based on the parameters you change. In the case of Tuvalu, it can simulate climate change conditions like rising sea levels and ‘predict’ how those conditions will impact the island nation.”

Tuvalu's Kofe said the country is looking for alternative ways to protect its heritage from climate change.