Resources

Dr. Ye Tao discusses the ongoing heat waves in West Africa, as well as the issues they are having with power cuts in Sierra Leone. In addition, we revisit one of Dr. Tao's early symposium presentations and delve into the controversial topics he discussed and information he shared in 2020. He provides more detailed explanation on topics including the aerosol masking paradox that our civilization currently faces.

Climatic Architecture Philippe Rahm speaks about how architecture can help fight against climate change.

India Sensor Deployment The MEER team based in India has been working diligently over the past week to conduct a survey of the project site and install the first set of sensors.

The communications team provided atraining session for some of the local women in Crab Town, where our communityproject is taking place. The training session aims to equip the participantswith the necessary skills to conduct an in-person survey in Crab Town.

The Freetown Heat Action Plan has set out several objectives to make Freetown residents aware of the risks of heat, establish high-resolution heat monitoring and personalized warning systems, and increase the ability of vulnerable groups to respond to extreme heat. By 2030, the plan aims to have 80% of Freetown's population fully aware of the risks of heat and effective responses.

In this episode, Dr. Tao discusses the challenges of finding the right community to conduct cooling experiments and the overall economic and housing situation in Crab Town and Aberdeen. We also delve into the impact of humidity as a crucial environmental factor, with potentially serious consequences, particularly for the elderly. We explore how a massive dust storm affected the mirrors in the short and long run. Finally, we discuss the latest heat adaptation plans in Freetown. We hope you find the conversation enlightening.

Are Clouds a Dial We Can Control to Mitigate Climate Change? Clouds play a controlling role in the atmosphere, in large part because they cool it during daytime by reflecting sunlight to space

MEER’s Sensor Poles Implementation in Crab Town The Urban Cooling Project is gaining momentum with the installation of 700 sensors on poles in the centre of Crab Town, a district in Freetown.

In this episode, Dr. Tao explains the origins of MEER and the framework he worked on with hundreds of students across the United States. He also talks about the framework's above other mitigation schemes. Additionally, he explains CROI (Cooling Return on Investment) and why it is so vital to factor in what is feasible in terms of mitigation. We hope you find this episode helpful and enlightening.

What if Arctic sea ice melts? All of it… during the summer! According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), over the past three decades the oldest, thickest ice (13-20 feet thick) has declined by a stunning 95 percent and 70 percent of Arctic sea ice is now thin “seasonal ice” that quickly melts in the Arctic summer.

The world continues to experience a relentless increase in average and extreme temperatures every year - much beyond what scientists and scientific models projected or expected. We now have to use previously unfamiliar terms to describe today’s new world - atmospheric rivers, sunny day flooding, rain bombs, derechos, flash droughts and many more. No place, no time of year and no person is immune from the severe direct and indirect impacts of a scorching planet.

Stressing the need for awareness, Global Chief Heat Officer Eleni Myrivili leads the response to extreme heat that threatens lives and livelihoods worldwide. She outlines ideal countermeasures.

The Emperor's New Climate Scenarios Sandy Trust explains why commonly used models in financial services are underestimating climate risk, presenting the findings of a collaborative research paper between actuaries and leading climate scientists ‘The Emperor’s New Climate Scenarios’, in a talk that will be in turns absurd, scary and hopeful.

MEER at Gaia Festival at Fergusson College in India The MEER project in India has been making significant progress lately. The project's preliminary testing is now complete, and the data collected so far has shown some excellent results.

In this introductory episode, we introduce Dr. Ye Tao, formerly of Harvard's Rowland Institute, who shares his scientific background and how he unexpectedly found his way into the field of climate science. Dr. Tao explains the breadth of what is at stake in the climate crisis and discusses his motivations for changing career paths and founding the non-profit MEER (Mirrors for Earth's Energy Rebalancing). Additionally, he describes the term climate and addresses some of the criticism and skepticism people encounter when trying to make a difference.

The recently concluded Project 1808 annual festival, which took place in Kabala, Sierra Leone, provided a significant platform for MEER to showcase its innovative projects and engage in meaningful collaborations

A New Climate Vocabulary Herb Simmens speaks about how a new climate vocabulary can bring to life a hopeful vision of a healthy and restored climate. This narrative vision will be presented using some of the 1,000 terms - 400 original - included In his newly published book A Climate Vocabulary of the Future.

Dr. Tao attends COP28 At this year's COP28 event held in Dubai, Dr. YeTao once again represented MEER, informingscientists and policymakers about the ongoingscientific experiments related to surfacereflection technology in the Global South.

Harnessing the Sun’s Energy for the Future of Water Security

In the near-term, billions of the most vulnerable to climate chaos and socioeconomic stressors will be forced to migrate due to intolerable heat, loss of food production, and severe water stress; with collapse of public services and food aid, most will die. MEER is a must to get up and running fast.

Dr. Tao meets with International Humanitarian Response Agency GOAL in Freetown, Sierra Leone and shares MEER's future projects, including a prototype Desalinator, Solar Water Heater, and Solar Concentrator.

Elizabeth Wathuti and Eugenia Kargbo Highlight the Need for Environmental Conservation

Climate change used to be a science challenge until recently when it has also become a developmental and moral challenge. We have witnessed the impact of climate change on every aspect of our lives. The recent IPCC 6th assessment report is red coded for humanity making it imperative for actions that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere and to slow down global warming. The presentation will explain the progress in our understanding of the climate system, the impact of climate change and actions we all have to take. Professor Nana Klutse is Vice Chair of the Working Group of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). She is Associate Professor at the Department of Physics, University of Ghana and the Head of Department.

Project Starting in Pune, India and Dr. Tao Co-authors Paper

Africa's first heat officer is helping women keep cool in Sierra Leone's capital Freetown.

Overheating Cities on a Hot Planet This fascinating and inspiring talk centered around how to help overheating cities through urban engineering. Ronita Bardhan is an architectural engineer and urban studies educator, with a PhD in urban engineering. Bardhan leads the research group - Cambridge Sustainable Design Group (SDG). Her research is centered around data-driven design of built environment for precision prevention from health and energy burdens in the warming climate. She triangulates building physics, engineering, and social science data to develop solutions for realising health and low-carbon energy potential in built environments. Bardhan works on climate heat stress & health in built environment. She has extensively worked in Slum Rehabilitation (social) housing (in India, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa and Brazil).

MEER's visit to Fergusson College, Pune, India, was eventful. The lecture delivered by Dr. Taov on September 16th, 2023, covered the organization's goals and vision for India.

FREETOWN UPDATE: MEER team members joined a diverse group of participants, including activists, policymakers, researchers, and NGOs, at a Trócaire conference about environmental issues

Dr. Ye Tao presents at Arctic Momentum: Dr. Tao was received by an enthusiastic group of scientists and experts gathered to discuss climate intervention science and research at a conference in Helsinki, Finland.