2015

Archive: 2015

Minds on the Information Gap: Climate in the Caribbean

This post is an excerpt from a multimedia story published by IRI on Medium.com. View the full story and video series here. On the road from Hewanorra airport in southern St. Lucia to the capital in the north of the island, a bridge is missing, washed out during heavy rains on Christmas Eve, 2013. A sharp […]

New Discussion Briefs: Water & Climate in the Caribbean

In partnership with the Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES) at the University of West Indies, the International Research Institute for Climate and Society has released a set of four discussion briefs related to water and climate in the Caribbean. The briefs are designed for policy makers and others who work in the water sector to learn more about […]

July Climate Briefing: Nothin’ but Niño

Read our ENSO Essentials and ENSO Impacts pages to learn more about El Niño + check out the Storified summary of the #IRIforecast discussion on Twitter.   Tony Barnston provides an overview of the briefing Changes from last month’s briefing Scientists usually cringe at the word certain, but the forecast for El Niño to continue through the July-September season […]

Seeds of Hope: IRI in Uruguay

This story was written by David Craig and originally appeared in the Spring 2015 issue of Columbia Magazine. Photography and additional reporting by Francesco Fiondella. As climate change creates agricultural instability around the world, Columbia scientists are testing a seasonal forecasting system in Uruguay to give farmers a fighting chance. Daniel Lalinde doesn’t need a […]

IRI @ Paris #CFCC15

The International Scientific Conference “Our Common Future under Climate Change” will take place in Paris, July 6-9, 2015. This four-day conference will be the largest forum for the scientific community to come together ahead of the 21st UNFCCC Conference of the Parties, aka COP21, which will be hosted by France in December 2015. Building on the […]

Q&A: Subseasonal Prediction Project

Andrew Robertson is a senior research scientist at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society, where he also heads the climate group. Much of his research relates to improving climate forecasts with lead times between two weeks to two months, which scientists refer to as the subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) timescale. Decision makers in sectors such […]

2015 El Niño: Notes for the East African Malaria Community

UPDATE: This publication was originally produced by IRI in June 2015. It has been updated monthly, and the October 2015 version is now available here [PDF].  Climate is one of many variables that influence where and when malaria outbreaks occur. Precipitation, humidity and temperature affect the development and survival of mosquitoes, with temperature also affecting the malaria parasites carried […]

June Climate Briefing: El Niño Certainty Increases

From the June climate briefing, given by IRI’s Chief Forecaster Tony Barnston: Tony Barnston provides an overview of the briefing Changes from last month’s briefing Over the last month, the ongoing El Niño in the east-central Pacific has intensified to moderate strength. There is now a 99% chance of El Niño for the June-August season, and chances stay […]

NASA@IRI: Studying Climate Extremes from Space

By Alex Sweeney Peering into the satellite control rooms at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) last month was extremely exciting. As participants of the NASA DEVELOP National Program, we use satellite data every day in our research. Helen Cen and I had just finished our end-of-term presentations with other DEVELOP participants and were led […]

Innovative Weather Model Helps Caribbean Prepare for Drought

This story was originally published in FrontLines, a news publication of the U.S. Agency for International Development. When it comes to climate risks in the Caribbean, the bluster and rage of hurricanes and tropical storms steal the stage. These events flare up quickly, can cause enormous damage and loss of life, and dissipate within days. Drought is […]

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