Science

It is roughly one year since I joined GAIN, the Global Adaptation Institute. GAIN is dedicated to facilitate data-driven pragmatic solutions to face the challenge of adaptation to climate change. You can learn more about us here, or about my role here. One year seems a nice excuse to stop and think about what one has done and evaluate where to improve. I am very thankful to the Institute for giving me the opportunity to work on such an important topic with amazing people. I think we have lots to celebrate and be proud of. Motivation has been and is the main engine for this journey. ...

Today I went to a lunch meeting with the Apps 4 Climate folks. It is basically a challenge for developers to make apps using the vast archive of open data at the Bank. It was great to see such a motivated team behind the project. We talked about the challenge itself, requirements and timelines. It was very appropriate for Habiba Gitay to point out the importance of rightful sourcing attribution (most times the Bank acts as a portal that archives someone else’s data). Alex Barth also gave a talk about building maps with World Bank Climate Data (slides here). ...

[Cross posted at Global Adaptation Institute] Today I've published the article «Más Acción, Menos Palabras,» in the Madrid-based daily national newspaper, La Razón. One of the goals of the article is that in the wake of no clear path forward on tackling climate mitigation, concrete steps taken by world leaders attending the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting can harness the power of the private sector in helping those most vulnerable adapt to the challenges of climate change and other global forces: The harsh reality is that, after seventeen annual international [UNFCCC COP] conferences, intentions still fall far behind action. The necessary consensus for taking global steps to address climate change becomes lost among competing agendas. They have become business meetings where solutions are not coordinated. Adaptation is a parallel track, and complementary to tackle climate change. The meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos this week brings together over a thousand leaders representing many sectors of the economy that drive its evolution. Not surprisingly, one of the issues at the top of the agenda is climate change and global adaptation to this phenomenon. Read the whole article, in spanish, here. ...

Some of you asked me today. Yes, the Sun is pretty active lately. Not many hours ago it did flare on its surface. With such luck that the ejecta pointed towards us. That´s rather unusual considering the tiny size of the Earth in comparison to the huge distance from the Sun. [caption id=“attachment_2158” align=“aligncenter” width=“448” caption=“Original source: https://www.facebook.com/game.esp”][/caption] The flare occurred because a massive magnetic rope emerged from the Sun, it twisted once there and, hence, there was a reconnection (like a shortcut) that liberated huge amounts of energy and light to space. (that´s magnetohydrodynamics 101 — the how; no one really knows why) ...

Via Hackers News I found this post by Pau Ramon about the difficult experience of being recruited in the USA. I went through a similar process twice. First to work at a space and rocket lab, then to work at an NGO. I'll try to summarize it, hoping it might help others. As a research postdoc: I sent three emails to those places I wanted to work with. Short email with three short paragraphs: My name and affiliation, why I like what they do and why I think I can help them with their research. CV was linked (not attached to keep the email light) ...

[Cross posted at the Global Adaptation Institute News.] Report from the World Climate Summit, Dec. 3-4, in Durban, South Africa. The World Climate Summit (WCS) began with a keynote from President Zuma, followed by a set of 7 high level speakers who discussed how greening the global economy is not simply a reactive “who pays the bill” debate, but a whole new direction for better growth. The question is: is change happening at the pace it could and should, and if not, why not? ...

[Cross posted at the Global Adaptation Institute News.] Reporting from Durban, with contributions from Ian Noble watching from the web. In the morning I joined the Climate Communications Day. Attendees were mainly environmental journalists. It is part of a continuing process to assist journalists, especially those from developing countries, to understand both the process of climate change and the state of the negotiations. After all, what society will hear mostly comes from the media, not scientists directly. ...

[Cross posted at the Global Adaptation Institute News.] Development Seed published today an interview we made about the climate negotiations in Durban, South Africa. We discussed the importance of open data in the climate mitigation and adaptation movements. The interview also highlights how the Global Adaptation Index is a groundbreaking tool that utilizes open data to help countries adapt to climate change and other global forces: ...

[More or less a transcription of the speech I gave today] Thank you very much for the invitation to join the Kick-off of the Water Hackathon. The topic at hand is extremely important. Water is essential, yet billions of people face aggravating challenges with water quality, quantity, or even basic access to it. The challenge here is to help solve these real identified problems with pragmatic software-based solutions. And I know, we know, that we can make great contributions. We, participants, as many as we are, we are not alone, as you can see. This event has the support of the World Bank, NASA, governments, Universities and companies around the world. Why? Because it’s working. The growth of this movement is based on its success, which I see is based on 3 ingredients. ...

Washington was struck today by an earthquake. It was not strong and there was almost no damage. Yet, it was in the capital of the USA, a somewhat unexpected and particular place. And it was my first. Now that I see nothing serious happened, I can say it was fun. I was writing an email and I felt like there was construction going on one or 2 floors above. We are on floor 11 of 12. Like a second later I felt like someone had dropped a very heavy something above us. I felt a bit dizzy. Then I realized something wasn’t normal. I looked over the window in the far corner and I saw the reflections of light on the windows of the building opposite to us. They were also shaking! It was an earthquake! ...