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ACToday: COVID-19 Update

The global coronavirus pandemic has disrupted most aspects of life in the United States. Our work on the Adapting Agriculture to Climate Today, for Tomorrow (ACToday) project is no exception. Columbia University has closed its campuses to all but essential personnel. IRI’s staff is now fully set up to work from home. We must keep […]

‘Stealth Transmission’ Fuels Fast Spread of Coronavirus Outbreak

Undetected cases, many of which were likely not severely symptomatic, were largely responsible for the rapid spread of the COVID-19 outbreak in China, according to new research by scientists at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. The findings based on a computer model of the outbreak are published online in the journal Science. “The […]

March Climate Briefing: Still Not Cooling

Read our ENSO Essentials & Impacts pages for more about El Niño and La Niña. As of mid-March, the sea-surface temperatures were at warm-neutral to borderline El Niño levels, while atmospheric indicators showed mainly neutral conditions. A new set of model runs predicts neutral conditions are most likely through summer, with a 79% probability for ENSO-neutral (21% chance for El […]

Video: Launch of NextGen in Colombia

In August of 2019, Colombia’s national meteorological service, IDEAM, launched a state-of-the-art climate forecasting system called NextGen. You can read more about this milestone in our latest report about the Adapting Agriculture to Climate Today, for Tomorrow (ACToday). Below is a video we’ve produced celebrating the launch and the many organizations involved. “It is extraordinary to […]

Report: ACToday’s Major Accomplishments

The International Research Institute for Climate and Society is excited to share a progress report on Adapting Agriculture to Climate Today, for Tomorrow (ACToday), the Columbia World Project it leads. ACToday aims to combat hunger and improve food security by increasing climate knowledge in six countries particularly dependent on agriculture and vulnerable to climate related […]

February Climate Briefing: “Warm-Neutral” and Slowly Cooling

Read our ENSO Essentials & Impacts pages for more about El Niño and La Niña. As of mid-February, the sea-surface temperatures were at warm-neutral levels, while atmospheric indicators showed mainly warm-neutral conditions. A new set of model runs predicts neutral conditions are most likely through summer, with a 61% probability for ENSO-neutral (39% chance for El Niño) for the February-April […]

Tools for Desert Locust Early Warning and Control

John Furlow, Deputy Director of the International Research Institute for Climate and Society, gives a virtual tour of IRI’s desert locust maproom, originally developed in collaboration with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Video transcript: If you paid any attention to the news over the past few years, you may feel like we’re living through […]

Using Big Data to Combat Catastrophes – PRISM Project

Based on a press release issued by Cornell University. Powered by IRI’s Data Library, new project aims to harness large, multi-sectoral datasets in order to identify risk factors for catastrophic events In March 1989, a tripped circuit in the Hydro-Québec power grid left 6 million people without electricity. A week earlier, an unusually harsh snowstorm […]

Burkina Faso study shows link between land degradation and migration

Below is a piece originally published on The Conversation on January 21st, 2020, and was authored by IRI researcher Elisabeth Ilboudo-Nébié. In the Sahel of West Africa – which covers Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad – land degradation has led to migration towards less densely populated and more fertile areas. The land […]

January Climate Briefing: Forecast Toes Weak El Niño

Read our ENSO Essentials & Impacts pages for more about El Niño and La Niña. As of mid-January, the sea-surface temperatures were at warm-neutral to borderline El Niño levels, while atmospheric indicators showed mainly warm-neutral conditions. A new set of model runs from the International Research Institute for Climate and Society and the Climate Prediction Center predicts neutral conditions as […]

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