The Secretary General for Research of the Ministry of Science, Eva Ortega, has called for institutional responsibility because scientific denialism "kills," and has announced that the future Canary Islands Constellation of satellites from the Canary Islands Astrophysical Institute (IAC), will help fight forest fires.
Eva Ortega pointed out this Wednesday, at the press conference following the meeting of the IAC's Governing Council, that this center produces fundamental scientific knowledge in the fight against fires like those affecting different parts of Spain these days.
For example, she highlighted, the ALISIO-1 satellite allows measuring soil moisture, analyzing the state of vegetation, identifying the most vulnerable areas, and monitoring the evolution of a fire almost in real-time.
“It is very important information to anticipate risks, respond better during the emergency, and plan the recovery of affected areas,” said Eva Ortega, who stressed that the future Canary Islands Constellation will be added to this work, “which will significantly expand our Earth observation capabilities.”
This constellation of satellites will help to have much broader coverage of the territory and more frequent information to respond more effectively, and this is also "frontier research," Ortega indicated.
In this regard, she pointed out that "the same technology that allows us to look further into the Universe, helps us to better protect our territory and save lives," since they are concrete tools "that improve people's lives."
She added that these days "we see with horror" how forest fires devastate large areas of the country, put lives, homes, and irreplaceable natural heritage at risk, and in such a situation, she continued, it is essential to have the best scientific knowledge "and the IAC is part of this collective effort."
Scientific Denialism Criticized
Therefore, she criticized scientific denialism because "what is denied cannot be fought," and in the face of this attitude, she said, the best response is always more science, knowledge, and greater capacity to anticipate risks.
He also alluded to the request by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, for a broad State pact against the climate emergency, a country agreement based on scientific evidence and, Eva Ortega continued, "on the shared responsibility of all administrations and political forces".
In this task, the central government has taken a further step by approving the scientific panel for action against climate change, which will aim, the Secretary of Research indicated, for public decisions to always be based on the best available scientific evidence.
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