The climatologist Rafael Mendez Tejeda will participate as a regular contributor to the newsletter “Climate Connections”, of the Yale Universitywhere he will write – in Spanish – articles on climate, meteorology, climate change and impact of atmospheric phenomena, among other topics, for a non-specialized audience.
In interview with The new daythe professor of the University of Puerto Rico at Carolina and member of Committee of Experts and Advisors on Climate Change He indicated that, with his writings, he hopes to reach an audience that currently lacks true and accessible scientific information.
“I will have access to an audience, in Spanish, that lacks a lot of scientific information. The idea is to have scientific documentation, understandable and in Spanish, because there are many people who do not speak English, so they depend on translations or misinterpretations”held.
He said that Pearl Marvellone of the magazine's editors-in-chief, invited him to be part of the team of permanent collaborators, after having read his articles and his first book titled “Global warming: the human footprint”.
Méndez Tejeda explained that he will write between 12 and 16 articles annually, with a focus on Caribbean. The writings will be in Spanish, but with the possibility of being translated into English.
He stressed that the objective of the newsletter is to reach the audience in Spanish through scientifically based articles that are digestible and understandable for a non-specialized audience. He also mentioned that the periodicity of his publications will depend on the number of atmospheric phenomena that arise during the year.
“If there is a certain cyclonic system, such as a hurricane, you might have to write one or two articles. There is no number (of texts) per phenomenon, but it will depend on the climatic situation in the area.”he said, pointing out that his intention is to minimize the misinformation that exists about climatic and atmospheric conditions.
“The idea is to prevent pseudoscience from continuing to cover us and 'fake news' from continuing to grow in an alarming manner, because this misinformation causes people to make mistakes in preparing for a certain event or to become alarmed when there is no need to be alarmed,” he emphasized.
After being asked if any of his writings are about to be published, Méndez Tejeda commented that the “Climate Connections” team is evaluating their collaboration on the Atlantic Southern Current – called AMOC and which maintains the temperature of the oceans – and how it could be affecting the climate throughout the basin, considering that the period of El Niño phenomenon is in transition.
“The idea is to inform the person and, more than inform, educate”he asserted.