Rains
Very soon - in three days in fact - I will be travelling to India to work with the Red Cross for two months. My current area of study in Columbia has focused on the socioeconomic impacts of climate change and variability, particularly on climate predictions (looking at what character the climate in an area will have months in advance - like more rain, or drought, for example) and the necessity of using those predictions to aid decisions at national, community and individual levels.
My work with the Red Cross will be along these lines. Think about it - the Red Cross is a relief agency - something terrible happens, pictures are pasted on the front of newspapers, and people respond with money and aid. Lives are saved. And they do amazing and inspiring work.
But what if you could predict the disaster? What if you could save people's lives before they are in danger? It will never make front page news - a smiling child with the headline "We're Fine!" - but where it is possible to achieve, it is an amazing thing that requires new thinking on the behalf of governments and society. And that is precisely what I and nine of my classmates are trying to help the Red Cross/Crescent Societies around the world do this summer. We are working with the Climate Centre and will be communicating our activities through various channels, which I will update here as they become clear - and please RSS my flickr if you are interested.
The above photo was taken in Japan, in Yoyogi park in Tokyo shortly after record breaking rains. If the same rains happened in Bangladesh, perhaps thousands would have died, just like is happening right now.
What if you could tell that it was going to happen? What if you could save them, before danger arose?
Let's see.
See my Bangladesh disaster and climate change pictures here.
Rains
Very soon - in three days in fact - I will be travelling to India to work with the Red Cross for two months. My current area of study in Columbia has focused on the socioeconomic impacts of climate change and variability, particularly on climate predictions (looking at what character the climate in an area will have months in advance - like more rain, or drought, for example) and the necessity of using those predictions to aid decisions at national, community and individual levels.
My work with the Red Cross will be along these lines. Think about it - the Red Cross is a relief agency - something terrible happens, pictures are pasted on the front of newspapers, and people respond with money and aid. Lives are saved. And they do amazing and inspiring work.
But what if you could predict the disaster? What if you could save people's lives before they are in danger? It will never make front page news - a smiling child with the headline "We're Fine!" - but where it is possible to achieve, it is an amazing thing that requires new thinking on the behalf of governments and society. And that is precisely what I and nine of my classmates are trying to help the Red Cross/Crescent Societies around the world do this summer. We are working with the Climate Centre and will be communicating our activities through various channels, which I will update here as they become clear - and please RSS my flickr if you are interested.
The above photo was taken in Japan, in Yoyogi park in Tokyo shortly after record breaking rains. If the same rains happened in Bangladesh, perhaps thousands would have died, just like is happening right now.
What if you could tell that it was going to happen? What if you could save them, before danger arose?
Let's see.
See my Bangladesh disaster and climate change pictures here.