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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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