Interview to Ana Vila-Concejo in radio SBS


Our member Dr Ana Vila (oceanographer from the University of Sydney) has been recently interviewed to talk about the Great Barrier Reef and climate change. You can find the interview in Spanish here: https://www.sbs.com.au/language/spanish/audio/cambio-climatico-es-la-peor-amenaza-para-la-gran-barrera

Ana believes that “if we don’t start taking additional measures at a local, national and worldwide level to fight against climate change threats,  the chances of the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem to survive are low, and that will have a huge impact on the future Australian legacy”.

Interview in SBS

La Gran Barrera de Coral tiene una salud “muy pobre” y el cambio climático mundial es su principal amenaza. La oceanógrafa de la Universidad de Sídney, Ana Vila Concejo, relata a SBS Spanish que salió “con los ojos llenos de lágrimas” al ver la destrucción de los corales, aunque cree que aún todos podemos aportar mucho para salvarla.

La Gran Barrera de Coral de Australia, declarada Patrimonio de la Humanidad por la Unesco y una de las principales atracciones turísticas del país, tiene un pronóstico de supervivencia “muy pobre”. Así lo alerta la Autoridad del Parque Marino de la Gran Barrera de Coral en un informe quinquenal emitido el 30 de agosto.

“Si no se toma una acción adicional a nivel local, nacional y mundial para hacer frente a las mayores amenazas, las perspectivas generales para el ecosistema de la Gran Barrera de Coral seguirán siendo muy pobres, con consecuencias continuas para sus valores patrimoniales”, señala este documento.

Para la oceanógrafa de la Universidad de Sídney Ana Vila Concejo, quien trabaja en la Gran Barrera, el cambio climático no tiene bandera política y cualquiera que esté en el gobierno debe tomar medidas para mitigar sus efectos. Asimismo los ciudadanos también tienen el deber de contribuir a que no se destruya esta maravilla natural ni el planeta.


Angel.Lopez-Sanchez

About Angel.Lopez-Sanchez

A/Prof Ángel R. López-Sánchez is an astrophysicist and science communicator working at the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Macquarie University (MQ). He is a recognised expert in the study of how the gas is converted into stars in galaxies and how this affects galaxy evolution. He graduated in Theoretical Physics at the University of Granada (2000) and completed his PhD Thesis in Astrophysics at the prestigious “Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias” (IAC, Spain) and the University of La Laguna (Spain) in 2006. He moved to Australia in 2007, joining CSIRO “Astronomy and Space Science” to perform radio-interferometric observations of gas-rich galaxies at the Australian Telescope Compact Array. In 2011 he joined the Australian Astronomical Observatory and Macquarie University combining instrumentation support, research, lecturing, and outreach. He was appointed as a full-time research academic at the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at Macquarie University in May 2023. He is the president of the association of Spanish Researchers in Australia-Pacific (SRAP), the vice-president of the Astronomical Association of Córdoba (AAC, Spain), representative in the Andalusian Astronomy Network (RAdA), and member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the Spanish Astronomy Society (SEA), and the Australian Astronomy Society (ASA). He is a globally-recognised science communicator, with visibility in Spanish and Australian printed, broadcast, and social media. He is also a passionate amateur astronomer that uses his own equipment for capturing the beauty of the Cosmos. His stunning astronomy time-lapse videos and photos have received +1/2 million views in YouTube and have been seen in TV channels in USA, Australia and Spain, science museums worldwide, and textbooks.