International Research Institute for Climate and Society

Scientists Make Progress in Assessing Tornado Seasons

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:00:00 EDT

A new study of short-term climate trends offers the first framework for predicting tornado activity up to a month out with current technology, and possibly further out as climate models improve, giving communities a chance to plan. The study, authored by IRI's Michael Tippett and colleagues at Columbia's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, may also eventually open a window on whether tornadoes are growing more frequent due to long-term climate warming.

Are We Entering an Age of Mega-Fires?

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:12:08 GMT

For millennia, people have set fires to clear land for cultivation, pastures or hunting; so-called slash-and-burn agriculture is still common across much of tropical Africa, Asia and South America. It has been a useful strategy, but it is now becoming problematic. A new Earth Institute story and documentary, shot in the Peruvian Amazon, follows the work of scientists, including IRI's Kátia Fernandes, who are involved in the Fires in Western Amazon project. They are trying to figure out how fires get started, why some spread, why others are contained...and what the future may hold.

International Climate Services

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 17:00:44 GMT

Easily accessible and timely climate information can help societies not only limit the economic and social damage caused by climate-related disasters, but also take advantage of opportunities provided by favorable conditions. Climate services are meant to fill this need. The IRI and the Earth Institute, along with NOAA, Germany's Climate Services Center, the UK Met Office and the The National Center for Atmospheric Research are currently hosting an International Conference on Climate Services at Columbia University. We organized the event to initiate a dialogue between experienced climate information providers and those who currently use or wish to use such information.

Visit the ICCS web site for a full agenda! You can also follow the conference on Twitter: #ICCS2011

Insuring Against Drought

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 22:14:17 GMT

In our latest video interview, research economist Dan Osgood discusses index insurance and how it is helping some poor rural communities reduce hardships caused by drought in East Africa: http://vimeo.com/28460133

Climate-Smart Public Health

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 22:11:29 GMT

What do hot summer days in Beijing and heavy rains in rural Colombia have in common? Both are climate events that can trigger a host of public health calamities. And they're just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the ways that climate and health interact.