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Planning in the Near Term for Climate Change
Lisa Goddard discusses IRI's latest accomplishments and activities in a recent interview with Columbia University.
"There are so many interesting scientific questions," Goddard says. "We want to understand the causes of regional climate variability and change, and to understand and quantify our current capability to provide credible information. We then want to create tools to make it useful for decision making. Even if we do something about greenhouse gases, the variability over two to 20 years can be as large or larger than the man-made part of climate change."
An Institutional ReviewIn June, IRI hosted its first-ever review with its International Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee. Staff presented the IRI's vision for growth as well as highlights of the institution's work, supported by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for 15 years, to use advances in climate science to address societally relevant problems.
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A newly published paper in Climate Dynamics shows for the first time that the increased occurrence of drought in East Africa in recent years is part of a global shift in rainfall patterns mainly caused by natural variations in sea-surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean. The shift in occurred abruptly in 1998-1999, according to the study.
"While climate change may act to modify things slightly, the dominant factor is what's happening in the tropical Pacific from one decade to the next," says lead author Bradfield Lyon.
The shift is also responsible for increased drying in recent years in the southwestern US, central-southwest Asia, southeastern China and portions of eastern Australia.
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A new fact sheet we've put together with the US Agency for International Development answers frequently asked questions about index insurance and how IRI and other institutions are using it to help farmers around the world become more productive and adapt to climate change.
To learn more about IRI's work in this exciting and innovative field, visit our Financial Instruments page.
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