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Airborne Dust: A Hazard to Human Health, Environment and Society
Over the last decade, the scientific community has come to realize the important impacts of airborne dust on climate, human health, the environment and various socio-economic sectors. WMO and its Members, having started implementation of monitoring, forecasting and early warning systems for airborne dust in 2004, are at the vanguard on evaluating these impacts and developing products to guide preparedness, adaptation and mitigation policies. 1 2
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China’s Implementation of Impact and Risk-based Early Warning
China is one of the countries most affected by meteorological hazards. From 1984 to 2014, on average per annum meteorological hazards caused 4 066 deaths and 192.2 billion Chinese Yuan Renminbi (CNY, US$ 30.5 billion) direct economic losses – 2% of the Chinese Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The annual average loss ratio (direct economic losses/annual GDP) halved from 2.08% from 1984 to 2000 to 1.03% from 2001 to 2014, thanks to improved disaster prevention and mitigation measures. That 1.03% ratio is still 8 times higher than the global average (0.14%) and 3 times higher than that of the United ...
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Towards Substantially Reduced Disaster Risk in 2030
Bulletin, Vol. 64(2). WMO, 2015The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (Sendai Framework) adopted on 18 March is the first major agreement of the 2015 agenda. Its seven global targets and four priorities for action are highly relevant to WMO. Disaster risk reduction (DRR) is one of the seven priority areas of the Organization. Protecting lives, livelihoods and property is at the core of its mission – thus, WMO will support the Sendai Framework through a wide range of scientific and technical activities.1
Vol. 63(2) - 2014 - Tiempo y clima - Conocimiento de los riesgos y preparación frente a la variabilidad y los extremos
is an issue of Boletín. Organización Meteorológica Mundial (OMM); Organización Meteorológica Mundial (OMM) - OMM, 2015
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The Weather: What’s the Outlook?
New sources of atmospheric observations, faster supercomputers and advances in science together revolutionized weather forecasting in the latter part of the 20th century. On the global scale, we can today predict up to five days ahead as accurately as we could do for three days 20 years ago. This means society has much more advance warning of weather hazards than before, permitting people to prepare and, thereby, limit the loss of lives and property. Expectations are high for even greater advances in the years to come.
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Interview: Qing-Cun Zeng
Qing-Cun Zeng, a famous academic meteorologist, is a pioneer of numerical weather prediction, dynamic climate prediction and remote sensing theory for meteorological satellites. His semi-implicit (1961) and quadratic (1981) schemes as well as his inversion variation method (1974) are still widely applied to theoretical and practical studies in meteorology and geophysical fluid dynamics. Through his active involvement in the study of global climate and environmental change, he has contributed to advancements in the study of meteorological hazards and related disaster risk reduction. He has rece ...
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Building Climate Resilience through Disaster Risk Reduction
Natural hazards involving weather, climate and water are a major source of death, injury and physical destruction. Over the past decade (2005-2014), 3 253 hydrometeorological hazards were reported around the world, resulting in 283 0351 deaths and economic losses amounting to US$ 983 million.
TCP, 23. Typhoon Committee Operational Manual : Meteorological Component
The Operational Manual consists of the text and the appendices. Items included in the text relate to the Typhoon Committee agreement, in particular, basic information for executing meteorological operation, whilst the appendices contain national practices and procedures (it is felt that the Member concerned should have the right to be able to change without having to get prior formal agreement of the Typhoon Committee) together with detailed and technical information for meteorological operation. Information described in WMO official publications such as Manuals is only referred to and not i ...
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Strengthening urban resilience in Bangladesh
This brochure is part of a series highlighting the World Bank's achievements in disaster risk management initiatives. The brochure offers lessons learned on managing disaster risk and promoting urban resilience and it presents Bangladesh's path-breaking Urban Resilience Project, the product of a collaborative effort among the government, the World Bank, and GFDRR, which equips key government agencies with state-of-the art emergency management facilities and improves construction permitting processes.
Use of Probabilistic Guidance in Local Tropical Cyclone Wind Forecasting
This lesson describes the role of forecasters in supporting emergency managers during tropical cyclones with a focus on the wind hazards. It provides an overview of the wind speed products produced by the National Weather Service, including how they are used to create local wind forecasts. Learners will practice interpreting probabilistic wind speed guidance and conveying appropriate wind speed information to decision-makers using projected scenarios of hazardous wind events. Developing messages for emergency managers and the public that include the potential wind speed, threat, and impact inf ...
Tropical Cyclone Forecast Uncertainty
This lesson introduces learners to the uncertainty and errors in forecasting the track, timing, and intensity of tropical cyclones. It provides an overview of how the National Hurricane Center’s cone of uncertainty is constructed, as well as its uses and common misconceptions. Learners will explore the influences of track, timing, and intensity forecast errors on potential tropical cyclones impacts. The lesson offers suggestions on how to communicate tropical cyclone forecasts knowing their inherent uncertainty. This online lesson is part of the Tropical Cyclone Storm Winds: Forecasting and Co ...
Determining the Onset and Risk of Tropical Cyclone Winds
This lesson introduces forecasters to the probabilistic guidance products used by the National Hurricane Center to assess tropical cyclone wind threats. It provides an overview of how these probabilistic wind speed products are created, their purposes, and how to interpret them. The lesson also provides practice in determining the total risk and timing for location-specific peak wind events. This online lesson is part of the Tropical Cyclone Storm Winds: Forecasting and Communication course.
Introduction to Climatology for the Tropical Pacific Islands
This lesson provides information on climatology—what it is, the factors that create an area's climate, and the sources and uses of climate information. Focused specifically on tropical Pacific islands, the content covers the key features influencing climate in that region and includes examples for four locations distributed across the tropical Pacific Ocean, both north and south of the equator. The lesson provides a basic introduction to tropical climatology intended for a wide range of users, from meteorology technicians, forecasters, and scientists, to those in industries or sectors influenc ...
Forecasting Heavy Rains and Landslides in Eastern Africa
Good rainfall draws many people to settle across the eastern Africa highlands for farming and other businesses. However, factors such as steep terrain, logging, livestock grazing, agriculture, and construction, have increased erosion and contributed to less stable slopes. These factors can lead to devastating landslides and mudslides, especially during episodes of very heavy rain. Forecasting and monitoring heavy rainfall is challenging, especially in mountainous regions that have few surface observations. This make satellite data critical for meteorologists and hydrologists forecasting for th ...
Introduction to Tropical Cyclone Storm Surge
This lesson introduces forecasters to the physical processes and impacts of tropical cyclone storm surge. It provides an overview of the factors that affect storm surge, how it is measured, and the limitations associated with storm surge data. This online lesson is part of the Tropical Cyclone Storm Surge: Forecasting and Communication course.
Overview of Watershed and Channel Sedimentation
This lesson provides an overview of the primary influences of watershed and channel sedimentation. In a short narrated portion of the lesson, we explore a section of the Rio Grande watershed and channel in New Mexico using Google Earth imagery, river profiles, and graphic animations. We highlight features of the upland catchments, the river channel, and the Elephant Butte Reservoir. We then demonstrate how environmental factors (climate, geography, land use changes, reservoirs) impact the supply and movement of sediments for the Rio Grande and other rivers. The focus is on the three primary pr ...
SDS-WAS, 2015-001. Dust/ sand storms over Libya : Spatial distribution, frequency and seasonality, technical report
The climate of most of the coastal region of Libya can be classified as semi-arid, while that of the rest of the country is arid. Rainfall is erratic with extremely variable yearly rainfall amounts: a series of dry years may follow a year with adequate rainfall. Furthermore, monthly and seasonal totals are not homogenous and most precipitation occurs during winter months.
Dust and sand storms, the focus of the present study, are one of the main extreme weather phenomena that affect Libya. In this paper, spatial and temporal distribution, frequency and seasonality are studied and analyze ...
Flood Management Tool Series, Technical Document, 23. Health and Sanitation Aspects of Flood Management
Flood events are known for their profound capacity to positively or negatively affect humans. Floods improve overall human well-being by providing services such as groundwater recharge, surface-water replenishment, soil-fertility enhancement and a general increase in the value of social–ecological systems. Equally, however, flood events pose a series of diverse health threats, ranging from contaminated water sources to decreased agricultural productivity, especially when communities are vulnerable and lack the capacity to effectively respond to, and recover from, the adverse effects of floods. ...
Flood Management Tool Series, Technical Document, 22. The role of the media in flood management
Communication is the imparting or exchange of information between individuals or groups through a common system of symbols, signs or behaviour (Merriam-Webster, 2013a; Oxford Dictionaries, 2013). In recent decades, different conceptual models have been developed to explain the process of human communication. One of the best representations of the flow of information in flood communication is the Interactional Communication Model proposed by Schramm (Schramm, 1954).
Flood Management Tool Series, Technical Document, 21. Effectiveness of flood management measures
It is not enough to assert—to an elected official, a regulator, a donor organization or the taxpayer—that one’s organization is doing an effective job of flood management. One also has to be able to provide a credible answer to the question: “How do you know?” 2 There is a multiplicity of flood management activities that can be pursued by a plethora of government jurisdictions, government agencies, NGOs, private and volunteer groups— independently, in cooperation, in competition. These activities may include: constructing flood prevention infrastructure; rebuilding houses, buildings and infras ...
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Perceptions of obvious and disruptive climate change: community-based risk assessment for two native villages in Alaska: In Climate 2015, 3(4), pp. 812-832
This work operationalizes the determinants of climate change risk, exposure and vulnerability, through the perceptions held by Native hunters, fishers, and gatherers in Savoonga and Shaktoolik, Alaska. Informed by their skill, experience, and the traditional knowledge of their elders, hunters, fishers, and gatherers in these communities are astute observers of their environment and environmental change. A questionnaire is used to sort and rank their perceptions of the most obvious and disruptive elements of climate change as representations of exposure and vulnerability, respectively.
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Disaster risk programme to strengthen resilience in the dry corridor in Central America
This document presents an overview on the impact of the Dry Corridor phenomenon in Central America, and the work the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) - in collaboration with its partners - is doing to support countries to increase disaster resilience of households, communities and institutions.
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Agriculture and livelihood flood impact assessment in Myanmar
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (MOAI) Myanmar - gov ; Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Rural Development (MLFRD) Myanmar - gov ; et al. - FAO, 2015This report assesses the disaster impact of the cyclone Komen on agriculture and rural-based livelihoods of affected populations in Myanmar. The assessment was conducted in the six most-affected regions/states of Ayeyarwady, Bago, Chin, Magway, Rakhine and Sagaing. It was co-led by FAO and WFP under the framework of the Food Security Sector in partnership with UN women, World Vision, CESVI, CARE, JICA and LIFT.
Asia-Pacific Disaster Report 2015: Disasters without borders - Regional resilience for sustainable development
This flagship publication of UN ESCAP provides an overview of the state of disaster resilience in Asia-Pacific region, and places disaster risk reduction at the heart of sustainable development. It identifies emerging new risks in the region and the sectors that are most at risk.
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Disaster risk reduction efforts in the Greater Horn of Africa : In International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, March 2015, volume 6, issue 1, pp. 49-61
This article assesses the current state of disaster risk reduction (DRR) in the Greater Horn of Africa (GHA), and focuses on interventions and policies to mitigate hydrometeorological risks. The research analyzes, as main case study, the program “Regional Climate Prediction and Risk Reduction in the Greater Horn of Africa” funded by the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID OFDA) in the early 2000 that targeted risk preparedness.
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Reflections on the current debate on how to link flood insurance and disaster risk reduction in the European Union
This paper investigates if and how current EU policies influence flood insurance. While the question of supply and demand is at the core of the debate, the authors argue that another key dimension is often overlooked: how to use insurance as a lever for risk reduction and prevention efforts.
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Refining the historical flood series for Ba, Fiji
This report extends, reviews and explains in detail the historical flood series for the Ba River at Ba, Fiji. It is the longest quantitative flood series for a river in Fiji, describing 32 floods that have inundated Rarawai Sugar Mill over the 123‐year period from 1892 to 2014, at an average of once every 3.8 years. The accuracy of each flood level is assessed, with 56% of these floods deemed to have a high rating and 34% a medium‐high or medium rating. Flood levels for 12 lesser floods are also estimated. This extended and verified flood series provides the basis for forthcoming statistical a ...
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Tropical Cyclone Pam: lessons learned workshop report
Vanuatu - Gov, 2015This report summarises the discussions and outcomes from the national debriefing workshop to identify lessons learned following Tropical Cyclone Pam (TC Pam). It reviews key aspects of coordination, including preparation, response and recovery.
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New Guinea islands drought: assessment report
This report presents the outcomes of a rapid assessment on the drought situation carried out by the Government of Papua New Guinea. It includes the findings/ highlights on the impact of drought on food, water, health, livelihood and education. It finally presents recommendations based on the assessment.
Urban flooding of Greater Dhaka in a changing climate: building local resilience to disaster risk
World Bank, 2015This study’s overall aim is to provide local decision-makers an effective planning approach for minimizing the damage risk of rainfall-induced urban flooding in Dhaka in a changing climate. Specific objectives are to assess the vulnerability of the Greater Dhaka area to urban flooding and waterlogging, estimate probable economic damage due to climate change, develop structural adaptation measures, evaluate the reduction in economic damage resulting from implementing these measures, and estimate their cost.
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Planning for a more resilient future: a guide to regional approaches
This report summarizes the rapidly-growing body of research on resilience, describing the main ideas that are driving policy and practice across the country, and examining current thinking on regional and economic resilience. It is intended for regional development organizations (RDOs) as well as local governments, community foundations, voluntary organizations, and others who step forward as planners, conveners, organizers, fundraisers, mediators, coordinators, and advocates on behalf of communities impacted by, or at risk of being impacted by, disasters, natural and human-induced.
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Big data for climate change and disaster resilience: realising the benefits for developing countries
This synthesis report explores the opportunities, challenges and required steps for leveraging the new ecosystem of Big Data to monitor and detect hazards, mitigate their effects, and assist in relief efforts. Ultimately the goal is to build resilience so that vulnerable communities and countries as complex human ecosystems not only ‘bounce back’ but also learn to adapt to maintain equilibrium in the face of natural hazards.
Assessing Agricultural Risk in Africa Using Satellite Data and Land Surface Models
Droughts pose a major risk in most African countries including Ghana where agricultural activities are heavily dependent on rainfall. Efforts at assessing droughts and providing decision support tools to farmers are hampered by a lack of rainfall and other meteorological data over many parts of Africa. Satellite based rainfall measurements have been suggested to fill the rainfall data gaps over Africa to enable effective assessment of droughts. Traditional methods of assessing droughts have been based on statistical formulations that relied mostly on precipitation. This approach to assessing d ...
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ASEAN disaster management reference handbook
This handbook provides decision makers, planners, responders and disaster management practitioners with an overview of the disaster management structure, policies, laws, and plans for ASEAN countries.
The handbook presents an overview of natural and man-made threats most likely to affect ASEAN countries, basic country background information, including cultural, demographic, geographic, infrastructure and other data, as well as endemic conditions such as poverty, water and sanitation, food security and other humanitarian issues. It also provides an overview of the health situatio ...
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Extreme weather and resilience of the global food system
This report examines the resilience of the global food system to extreme weather.
This summary is built on three detailed reports and presents evidence that the global food system is vulnerable to production shocks caused by extreme weather, and that this risk is growing. It highlights evidence that our reliance on increasing volumes of global trade, whilst having many benefits, also creates structural vulnerability via a liability to amplify production shocks in some circumstances. It argues that action is needed to improve the resilience of the global food system to weather-re ...
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State of social media technologies for disaster preparedness in Asia Pacific region
This report aims to contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the implications of social media analysis tools for disaster preparedness, focusing on the Asia Pacific region. The research it is based on follows a technology-in-practice approach, that is, it examines users’ practices enacted in their interaction with technological features and functions (e.g., message broadcasting on Twitter, visual analytical tools on ThinkUp) in different situations. Specifically, this research aims to solicit data from humanitarian organizations’ self-reported opinions and usage of social media and relat ...
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School of Economics and Finance Working paper, 08/2015. Natural disasters and climate change in the Pacific island countries : new non-monetary measurements of impacts
In this article, the author tabulates and measures the burden of disasters on the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) by aggregating and comparing the data found in the two global datasets on disaster impacts.
The paper shows that the most commonly used dataset greatly underestimates the burden of disasters for the Pacific islands. Next, it describes a new index that aggregates disaster impacts, calculates this index for the PICs, and then compares the burden of disasters for the island countries of the Pacific with the island countries of the Caribbean. This comparison demonstrates ...
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Disaster microinsurance: an innovation for transformation: In Southasiadisasters.net issue no. 133, July 2015
The Policy Brief is primarily aimed at a human rights audience, and intends to both inform human rights policymakers and provide guidance on how international human rights law, institutions and mechanisms might contribute to more effective, just and sustainable policy responses (at the international and national levels) to climate change and crossborder displacement.
It reflects primary and secondary research; the outcome of a meeting during the 25th session of the Human Rights Council (the Council) on the ‘human rights implications of displacement in the context of disasters’ o ...
Monitoring and evaluating climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction in Uganda
This scoping study report is an analysis of the monitoring and evaluation frameworks and tools in Uganda with focus on climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. It provides an overview of Uganda’s climate change and other related policy context and their provisions for monitoring and evaluation frameworks. The report also highlights the current reporting systems and the mandates of different institutions for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. The tools and systems used for data and information collection, processing, reporting, storage and dissemination are hig ...
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Social participation and disaster risk reduction behaviors in tsunami prone areas: In PLoS ONE 10(7)
This white paper explores the lessons learned from Katrina and how the recovery in New Orleans inspired the creation of new methods of building resilience. The paper identifies a number of critical areas to keep stakeholders aligned, including prioritizing flooding as the paramount risk, devoting more resources to preventive measures rather than post-event disaster relief, and overcoming current infrastructure vulnerabilities. The paper also offers first steps and tactics to help assess and address communities at risk, and ways to improve the affordability of risk-based disaster insurance.
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Beyond Katrina: lessons in creating resilient communities
Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center (Risk Center) ; Zurich Insurance Group Limited - Zurich Insurance Group Limited, 2015This white paper explores the lessons learned from Katrina and how the recovery in New Orleans inspired the creation of new methods of building resilience. The paper identifies a number of critical areas to keep stakeholders aligned, including prioritizing flooding as the paramount risk, devoting more resources to preventive measures rather than post-event disaster relief, and overcoming current infrastructure vulnerabilities. The paper also offers first steps and tactics to help assess and address communities at risk, and ways to improve the affordability of risk-based disaster insurance.
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Does adaptation finance invest in disaster risk reduction?
This report argues that there is a gap for disaster risk reduction (DRR) financing, which could be filled by adaptation funds that have the capacity to invest directly in DRR activities and to integrate DRR into their other activities.
It suggests that water and coastal protection are the sectors where DRR is most integrated. DRR investments through adaptation funds appear to be more focused on the poorest countries in comparison to DRR finance from international aid.
This was particularly the case for Small Island Developing States (SIDS). DRR channelled through ...
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The (mis) allocation of public spending in a low income country : Evidence from disaster risk reduction spending in Bangladesh
This paper focuses on the regional allocation of public spending for disaster risk reduction (DRR) in Bangladesh.
The objective is to identify all of the directly observable determinants’ of publicly allocated and realized spending at the local government (sub-district) level. The Heckman two stage selection model is used with detailed public finance and other data from 483 sub-districts (upazilas) across the country. It is found that government does not respond to the sub-district’s risk exposure as a factor affecting the DRR financing mechanism. The DRR regional allocations do ...
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Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction : success or warning sign for Paris?
This report reviews and discusses the agreed commitments and targets, as well as the negotiation leading to the Sendai Framework for DRR (SFDRR).
It discusses briefly its implication for the later UN-led negotiations on sustainable development goals and climate change, including the Conference of Parties taking place in Paris, France at the end of 2015.
SFDRR was adopted by UN Member States in March 2015 and was the first major agreement of the post-2015 development agenda, with seven targets and four priorities for action: 1) Understanding disaste ...
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