LA JOLLA — Scripps Institution of Oceanography has announced an unprecedented climate research project in its collaboration with the company Earth Networks to create the largest-ever greenhouse gas observation network. Earth Networks, owner of the WeatherBug brand of weather products, is investing $25 million in new technology to build 100 data-collecting observation sites, starting with 50 in the continental United States, followed by 25 in Europe and 25 in other parts of the world. Currently, only a few dozen locations exist worldwide for monitoring greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. “This will be a tremendous boon for climate research nationally and internationally,” said Ray Weiss, research professor at Scripps. One way the project will benefit research, said Weiss, is by providing actual data of atmospheric levels of methane and carbon dioxide, which can be used to determine how well we’re really doing at reducing those emissions. “We in California, for example, have [the Global Warming Solutions Act] AB 32 to limit greenhouse gas emissions,” he said. “At present, there is no independent way of verifying whether AB 32 is working or not. The only way to assess that is by people adding up what they believe they’ve emitted, which is probably a different story than actually measuring what is ending up in the air.” Earth Networks will also fund the establishment of the Earth Networks Center for Climate Research at Scripps, which will be co-directed by Weiss and Scripps professor Ralph Keeling. The center will be used to conduct new climate science research.