• Home
  • Archive by Topic "ACToday"

Topic: ACToday

New data and tools bring a deeper understanding of El Niño

Updated maps document expected impacts of ENSO conditions for decision makers across the globe. In 2001, the International Research Institute for Climate and Society’s Simon Mason and Lisa Goddard published an important analysis of how El Niño and La Niña events historically have influenced rainfall around the world. Out of that analysis they produced a […]

Student Spotlight: Finding ways for climate services to improve nutrition in Vietnam

By Joseph Conway During the summer of 2019, Pranav Singh, a graduate student at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, interned in Hanoi, Vietnam for the Adapting Agriculture to Climate Today, for Tomorrow (ACToday) Columbia World Project. Singh’s work focused on understanding where climate services–weather forecasts, early-warning systems, climate predictions and other resources–could […]

Climate Risk Insurance for Colombia’s Smallholder Rice Farmers

The Adapting Agriculture to Climate Today, for Tomorrow (ACToday) Columbia World Project has helped create advanced and sustainable climate services around the world tailored for agricultural decision making. Countries are using these new services to manage many of the climate-related risks to their food systems. But even the best climate services by themselves cannot manage […]

ACToday Experts Take Part in Panel on Climate and Food Security

Adapted from a news story by Columbia World Projects. Scientists and other experts from the Adapting Agriculture to Climate Today, for Tomorrow (ACToday) Project, joined former New York Times journalist Andrew Revkin for an online web seminar on May 7 to discuss the intersection of food, climate and coronavirus. The event – “Feeding Humanity as […]

Partners in Growth

Video interview with Steve Prager from Alliance Bioversity-CIAT discusses the importance of partnerships and the unique relationship with ACToday.

The Roots of their Work

Adapting Agriculture to Climate Today, for Tomorrow, or ACToday, is the first Columbia World Project. ACToday aims to combat hunger and improve food security by increasing climate knowledge in six countries that are particularly dependent on agriculture and vulnerable to the effects of climate change and fluctuations—Ethiopia, Senegal, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Colombia and Guatemala. For a […]

COVID19 Disruptions: Understanding Food Security Implications

According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, the COVID19 pandemic is impacting the world’s food systems and disrupting regional agricultural trade and value chains. The FAO has warned that food shortages are a real risk in the coming months. The rapid global spread of the virus poses a worrisome add-on threat to millions of […]

ACToday Columbia World Project enabling insurance to reach a million farmers in Ethiopia

The Adapting Agriculture to Climate Today, for Tomorrow Columbia World Project (ACToday) has been working with its Ethiopian partners to create new climate tools for decision makers working in agriculture and food security. These investments are now directly enabling the World Food Programme (WFP) to reach its 2022 target of providing a million smallholder farmers in Ethiopia with affordable insurance against droughts and other climate risks.

John Furlow: Helping Developing Countries Adapt to Climate Change

This piece was written by Sarah Fecht of the Earth Institute and originally published on the State of the Planet blog. John Furlow has spent more than a decade working with developing countries on the frontlines of climate change, helping them to adapt to changing conditions. Before he came to Columbia University’s International Research Institute […]

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 […]

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 […]

IRI@AGU: Subseasonal Forecasting for the Indian Monsoon

Climate scientist Nachiketa Acharya is at the center of IRI’s efforts to develop a new seasonal forecasting system. He focuses on improving the skill and usability of climate forecasts for users in agriculture, water management and other sectors. Acharya is also actively involved in improving forecasting at the subseasonal scale. Recently, he and other IRI […]

IRI@AGU: Schedule of Events 2019

A range of IRI’s areas of expertise will be represented at this year’s annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). Below is the schedule of IRI’s posters and presentations in sequential order. SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8 World Climate Research Programme 40th Anniversary Symposium Lisa Goddard WCRP is celebrating its 40th year of international climate science. We […]

IRI@AGU: Can We Predict “Climate Migrations”?

IRI scientists Ángel Muñoz and Diego Pons are interested in better understanding the root causes of migration in Central America. With their Columbia colleagues, Alex de Sherbinin and Susana Adamo–from the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CEISIN)–and Diana Giraldo from the University of Reading, they’ve developed a prototype model that considers climate and […]

Capacitación Avanzada para Pronosticadores Latinoamericanos

Read this story in English Uno de los objetivos claves del proyecto Adaptando la Agricultura al Clima de Hoy, para Mañana (ACToday) es capacitar a los profesionales que trabajan con información climática en instituciones nacionales y regionales para desarrollar habilidades técnicas. Una de estas sesiones de entrenamiento tuvo lugar durante el verano boreal reciente: siete […]

ACToday Q&A: Ashley Curtis on International Projects

With its population of nearly 160 million people, Bangladesh is the eighth most populous country in the world. Its geography – tropical, low-lying, with a sizable coastline – make the country one of the most vulnerable to climate change. Rising sea levels, increased cyclone intensity and frequency, and higher temperatures all pose threats to an […]

Advanced Training for Latin American Forecasters

La version en español esta disponible aquí.  One of the key objectives of the Adapting Agriculture to Climate Today, for Tomorrow (ACToday) project is to use trainings to build up the technical skills and capacity of staff working within national and regional climate institutions in the project’s six focus countries. One such training took place […]

IRI Alum Becomes Director of Senegal’s National Meteorological Service

Ousmane Ndiaye, an adjunct research scientist at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society, recently became the director of Senegal’s national meteorology service, which is part of the country’s National Civil Aviation and Meteorology Agency (ANACIM). Ndiaye now oversees all matters related to climate services in Senegal.  Ndiaye earned his doctorate from Columbia University […]

Trainings in Two ACToday Countries Pave the Way for More Knowledge-Sharing

The Adapting Agriculture to Climate Today, for Tomorrow (ACToday) project, is the first Columbia World Project. Led by the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), ACToday aims to combat hunger and improve food security by increasing climate knowledge in six countries that are particularly dependent on agriculture and vulnerable to the effects of […]

ACToday Q&A: J. Nicolás Hernandez-Aguilera on Coffee and Climate

IRI’s Juan Nicolás Hernandez-Aguilera discusses his research on sustainable coffee production. Originally from Colombia, his interest in the stark contrast between Colombia’s natural resource wealth and high levels of inequality, rural violence and deforestation has manifested in feeling a “responsibility to bring research toward action.”

More Than Rice: The Future of Food Security in Vietnam

Columbia World Projects‘ first project, Adapting Agriculture to Climate Today, for Tomorrow (ACToday), aims to combat hunger and improve food security by increasing climate knowledge in six countries that are particularly dependent on agriculture and vulnerable to the effects of climate change and fluctuations ⁠—Ethiopia, Senegal, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Colombia, and Guatemala. The project is led […]

ACToday Helps Unite Farmers and Scientists to Solve Climate Challenges in Guatemala

Adapting Agriculture to Climate Today, for Tomorrow (ACToday) is a Columbia World Project led by the International Research Institute for Climate and Society. The project aims to combat hunger and improve food security by increasing climate knowledge in six countries that are particularly dependent on agriculture and vulnerable to the effects of climate change and […]

Climate Data Initiative Begins Work on a New Continent

This year, after a decade of operating solely in Africa, the ENACTS initiative is expanding to Bangladesh. This expansion is part of ACToday, a Columbia World Project that applies climate research to efforts to improve food security and nutrition in six countries around the world, including Bangladesh. ENACTS, which stands for Enhancing National Climate Services, […]

Making Coffee Production Sustainable

First study to quantify economic trade-offs of shifting from conventional to shade-grown coffee production. Model suggests farmers can optimize coffee profits by converting one to two-thirds of their acreage to shade-grown.

Developing Colombia’s Next Generation of Seasonal Forecasts

Last year, climate scientists from the International Research Institute for Climate and Society visited Colombia’s national meteorological service (called the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies and known by its Spanish acronym, IDEAM) to discuss their continuing partnership and to start developing a more advanced seasonal forecasting system called ‘the Next Generation of Seasonal […]

Students Play Central Role in First Columbia World Project

Written by Christopher Shea, Columbia World Projects. It was originally published January 2, 2019 on Columbia World Project’s website. “I will never forget those voices and those faces sitting in front of me,” Sarah Johnson, a student at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), said over coffee at a campus café recently, as she described a meeting she had with a group of elderly […]

IRI@AGU: What’s Climate Doing to Guatemala’s Coffee?

The Samalá River watershed on Guatemala’s Pacific coast is a highly productive region for staple and cash crops. It’s also known for having one of the highest incidences of natural disasters in the country. Among the diverse agricultural production in the region, coffee stands as one of the most important export crops. Over the last […]

IRI@AGU: Climate Information for Food Systems

Sourcing seeds. Planting at the right time. Using fertilizer. Harvesting crops. Storing food. Shipping food. Setting prices. There are a multitude of decisions made in the systems that bring food to people around the world, and many of these decisions can be better informed by climate information. With the goal of improving the security and […]

IRI@AGU: Schedule of Events 2018

A range of IRI’s areas of expertise will be represented at this year’s annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). Below is the schedule of IRI’s posters and presentations in sequential order. MONDAY Climate Services Research and Development: Adapting to Climate Today Lisa M Goddard is the primary convener for both a presentation and poster […]

National Climate Assessment: Threats to U.S. International Interests

John Furlow is the Deputy Director for Humanitarian Assistance and International Development of the International Research Institute for Climate and Society. Before joining IRI, he was the lead on climate adaptation at the U.S. Agency for International Development’s climate change office. He also served as an author of the new U.S. National Climate Assessment‘s chapter […]

Exploring Climate, Food Systems and Nutrition

Written by Christopher Shea, Columbia World Projects Early one evening in 1987, a fire sparked by a passenger’s lit match broke out in London’s Kings Cross station, injuring 100 people and killing more than 30. Anti-smoking activists, lobbyists and politicians went rapidly to work and within two years London’s smoking regulations had been tightened and […]

After Ten Years of Index Insurance, What’s Next?

Despite an overabundance of food in some parts of the world, about 815 million people suffered from chronic undernourishment in 2016. Poor nutrition leads to nearly half of deaths in children under the age of five. Many of those who are hungry are farmers and their families. Our food systems clearly aren’t working as well […]

New Book: Climate Information for Public Health Action

A newly published book called Climate Information for Public Health Action gives the health community a primer on why, when and how climate information can and should be incorporated into health research, policy and practice. Madeleine Thomson, a health expert at IRI and faculty member at the Mailman School of Public Health, and Simon Mason, a […]

Improving Availability, Access To and Use Of Climate Information in Ethiopia

Workshop for developing expertise in data and digital solutions to support smallholder farmers in Ethiopia. By Ravina Pattni and Kelly Ward This post originally appeared on the blog of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). Climate change is threatening farmers’ livelihoods in Ethiopia. Climate information services are a critical […]

Experimental Forecasts Could Help Guatemala Recover from Volcanic Eruption

By Sarah Fecht This story originally appeared on the Earth Institute’s State of the Planet blog. La version en español esta disponible aquí.  Guatemala’s Volcán de Fuego erupted in early June, killing at least 110 people, while hundreds more remain missing. Streams of lava and plumes of smoke and ash have displaced thousands of Guatemalans, […]

­”We need climate information.” – Bangladesh’s agriculture community drives creation of new climate services

A series of three recent training workshops has improved the forecasting capabilities of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD), while also helping to deepen the relationship between BMD and Bangladesh’s Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE). The activities pave the way for new climate information products developed especially for DAE’s needs, and ultimately to help the farmers […]

Ethiopia Establishes National Framework for Climate Services

Ethiopia’s economy and the well-being of its people varies, in part, with the climate. Natural climate variability and long-term climate trends both contribute to fluctuations in weather that affect operations in water resources, agriculture, energy, health and more. Periodic droughts continue to cause hunger. Rising temperatures are exposing more people to malaria. But our ability […]

IRI papers make Environmental Research Letters ‘Top 30’ for 2017

Editors at Environmental Research Letters selected two papers written by scientists at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society for the journal’s Highlights of 2017 special issue. The issue features 30 research articles picked for their significance, scientific impact, breadth of appeal and other criteria. “This collection features seminal findings on climate education, oil […]

Partnership for a Resilient and Secure Food System in Vietnam

This is an an abbreviated version of a piece originally posted on the website of a partner organization, the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). Read the full piece here. With a coastline spanning 3,260 kilometers, Vietnam is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, such as sea level rise, […]

New Columbia World Project to Address Climate Risks to Food in Six Countries

The Earth Institute’s International Research Institute for Climate and Society is leading the first of the newly announcd Columbia World Projects. It focuses on climate threats to food and nutrition in six countries in Africa, Latin America and South Asia and involves a number of institutions and departments across the university.

Creating Climate Services in Bangladesh

­IRI’s Mélody Braun and John Furlow presented this month at the 4th annual Gobeshona Conference for Research on Climate Change in Bangladesh, held in Dhaka. The conference focused on research-based solutions to local vulnerabilities in Bangladesh and brought together researchers, policymakers, government and non-government representatives, donor agencies and international organizations. Furlow gave a keynote address […]

Supporting Science for a Better World

At Columbia’s International Research Institute for Climate and Society, we work to ensure that the most climate-vulnerable people in the world have enough to eat for themselves and their families, stay healthy and keep out of harm’s way. Our work is based on advancing science, building trust, and thinking long term. Why do we do […]

The Big Idea: Farsighted Forecasts

Lisa Goddard directs Columbia’s International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), which helps developing countries anticipate and manage the impacts of climate change. Columbia Magazine asked her to explain how climate scientists can predict weather patterns months in advance, and how their work is improving people’s lives. Columbia Magazine: IRI is at the forefront […]

Browse Archive ›