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Stories of success: Piloting a Regional Early Warning System for Increased Resilience in the Lake Victoria Region
HIGHWAY delivers improved early warnings to local communities by using innovative products and leveraging existing scientific expertise of the national meteorological services in the East African Region.
HIGHWAY : High impact weather lake system
HIGHWAY delivers improved early warnings to local communities by using innovative products and leveraging existing scientific expertise of the national meteorological services in the East African Region.
HIGHWAY : High impact weather lake system
HIGHWAY delivers improved early warnings to local communities by using innovative products and leveraging existing scientific expertise of the national meteorological services in the East African Region.
Forecasters' Overview of the Middle East
This lesson provides an introduction to the Middle East for Navy meteorologists. It focuses on the major aspects of synoptic and mesoscale weather patterns, hazards to aviation and maritime operations, geography, oceanography, and climatology. The “Geography” Unit covers major political boundaries, cities, ports, topographical features, rivers, and seismicity. The “Oceanography” Unit includes major bathymetric features, mean sea surface temperature, vertical temperature profiles, salinity and velocity, ocean currents, and tidal ranges. The “Climatology” Unit covers the seasonal climatology of ...
Leveraging the Best Available Science for Increased Effectiveness of Climate Finance
Effective results from climate finance require evidence- and science-based information on the state and behavior of the Earth’s atmosphere, its interaction with the oceans, regional climates, and the resulting distribution of water resources. The high demand for such information, however, has led to a fragmented flow of internationally-funded projects that lack operational linkages with broader hydrological and meteorological systems and national-regional-global integration. To address this, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) have established an innova ...
Using Climatology in Forecasting Convection in West and Central Africa
This case-study lesson provides an opportunity to apply the information in the ASMET lesson “Satellite-Derived Climatology Products for Monitoring Convection Over West and Central Africa” to a case that occurred over West and Central Africa in June 2014. It demonstrates how to integrate climatology information with satellite, global instability indices (GII), and NWP data when convection is forecast to occur.
The Sahel Drought Mechanism: insights from two contrasting extreme events
The Sahel drought mechanism: insights from two contrasting extreme events during boreal summer July-August-September (JAS) is investigated in this study using the standardized precipitation index (SPI). Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) and composite analyses were deployed in this study, where the global precipitation climatology center (GPCC) rainfall data is used. The SPI shows large widespread decreasing rainfall trend in the Sahel in the mid-1980s; thereafter, Sahel rainfall have recovered somewhat through the late 1990s, even though the drought conditions have not ended in the region. A ...
Interannual variation monthly rainfall from May to August associated with large-scale circulation anomalies over south coast of West Africa
The southern coastal region of West Africa (SCWA) is located between 40N-80N latitudes and 100W -50E longitudes near the equator in the northern Hemisphere, the south and west are respectively equatorial and West Atlantic Ocean, and it is consisted to seven countries (Sierra Leon, Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria). The rainy season starts from spring to the summer, mainly from May to October. The rainfall is very important for southern coastal of West Africa region which their economy and food supply are highly dependent on agricultural production. Understanding of previo ...
Satellite-Derived Climatology Products for Monitoring Convection Over West and Central Africa
A weather forecaster’s knowledge of climatology is important to the success of a forecast, especially where convection is involved. That’s particularly true over Central and West Africa where convection has a strong diurnal cycle and usually develops over particular geographic regions and during specific time intervals. The lesson describes satellite-derived cloud climatology products and several global instability indices, all of which can be integrated with other products to forecast convection. Although the lesson uses examples of climatology products from specific months, it makes the full ...
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 ...
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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.
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Disaster Risk Reduction for Resilience and Sustainable Development in the Arab Region
This brief gives an overview of the disaster trends and challenges across the Arab region.
There is a special emphasis on infrastructure, informal settlements, climate change, and cross-cutting issues such as governance, inclusiveness, decentralisation and legislation. The report also provides an analysis of proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Targets from an Arab Perspective.
As introduction is given to the issues around disaster risk reduction (DRR) in the Arab region. The main trends and challenges in DRR and reliance building are identified, spec ...
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Migration and natural resource scarcity within the context of climate variability in West Africa
Drawing from research in rural north-western Benin, this policy brief looks at the effect of migration on the in-land fisheries subsector.
It emphasizes the need for effective participation of all stakeholders in the management of natural resources to improve livelihoods in the region facing population growth and climate variability.
The brief highlights that migration – internal and international – is an important feature of the social lives of people across West Africa. While movements within the subregion are generally due to complex and multi-causal factors, n ...
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Can green growth really work and what are the true (socio-) economics of climate change?
Hoffmann Ulrich - United Nations, 2015This paper argues that growth, technological, population-expansion and governance constraints as well as some key systemic issues cast doubt ‘green growth’ hopes.
It argues that such an evolutionary (and often reductionist) approach may well not be sufficient to cope with the complexities of climate change. It may rather give much false hope and excuses to do nothing really fundamental that should bring about a turn around on global GHG emissions.
The paper argues that climate change calls into question the global equality of opportunity for prosperity and is thus ...
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Potential impact of climate and socioeconomic changes on future agricultural land use in West Africa: In Earth Syst. Dynam. Discuss., 6
Copernicus Publications, 2015This study compares the contributions of climate change and socioeconomic development to potential future changes of agricultural land use in West Africa.
It uses a prototype land use projection (LandPro) algorithm which is based on a balance between food supply and demand, and accounts for the impact of socioeconomic drivers on the demand side and the impact of climate-induced crop yield changes on the supply side. It considers the impact of human decision-making on land use.
The paper argues that without agricultural intensification, the climate-induced decrease ...
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Community resilience framework : lessons from the field
Swiss NGO DRR Platform, 2015The report presents the main findings from case studies about resilience assessments that were carried out in five countries through workshops: El Salvador, Bolivia, Haiti, Palestine, and Cambodia. It capitalizes on local knowledge and experience and provides important insights not only on how those most at risk build resilience, but also on how they struggle to overcome the barriers that are imposed on them by their natural, socio-political and economic environments. It highlights the range of expertise and commitment for promoting resilience through disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate ...
SDS-WAS. Regional Center for Northern Africa, Middle East and Europe of the WMO Sand and Dust Storm Warning Advisory and Assessment System : activity report 2010-2012
This report presents the Center’s activities in the 2010-2012 period. It reports on its efforts to build capacity in the region and to develop user services to reduction of adverse impacts of dust in countries heavily impacted by dust storms. There remain important SDS-WAS research issues to be considered and it is hoped that the Center will continue to play a coordinating role in addressing these. These research topics include the assimilation of observations in numerical dust prediction models; role of dust chemical/mineral composition on health and environment; direct and indirect interacti ...
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Climate-resilient development : a framework for understanding and addressing climate change
This framework offers a simple yet robust five-stage approach to help decision-makers and development practitioners at all levels systematically assess climate-related risks and prioritize actions that promote climate-resilient development. Developed by USAID’s Global Climate Change Office, this “development-first” approach helps decision-makers and practitioners integrate climate considerations directly into development activities across multiple sectors, keeping the focus on achieving development goals despite a changing climate. Working with USAID missions, governments, and other stakeholde ...
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Agroforestry, livestock, fodder production and climate change adaptation and mitigation in East Africa : issues and options
This working paper argues that agroforestry and livestock-keeping both have the potential to promote anthropogenic climate change resilience and support each other in this context.
The paper discusses relevant issues in East Africa, where recent agroforestry interventions to support livestock keeping have included the planting of mostly-exotic tree-fodders, and where most parts of the region are expected to become drier in the next decades, although smaller areas may become wetter. It argues that wider cultivation and improved management of fodder trees provides adaptation and mitigatio ...
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Natural disasters in the Middle East and North Africa: a regional overview
Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, the ; United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR); et al. - GFDRR, 2014This report focuses on the challenges of managing natural disasters, presenting a synthesis of the status of disaster risk in the Middle East and North Africa (MNA) Region, including gaps and areas for remedial or enhanced actions. It highlights the progress already made and opportunities to learn from best practices, and provides critical feedback to governments and partners on efforts and processes required to make the region disaster resilient. This report proposes a strategic framework to help MNA countries shift from disaster response to proactive risk management.
Adaptation to climate change in the southern mediterranean: a theoretical framework, a foresight analysis and three case studies
This report addresses the main policy relevant questions about climate change adaptation in the Mediterranean region and provides answers based on a theoretical framework applied to the case of three Mediterranean countries, namely Türkyie, Egypt and Tunisia. The first sections deals with adaptation to climate change from a theoretical viewpoint, covering not only economic issues, but also fairness and international agreements on mitigation and adaptation.
The second part makes use of the conceptual framework developed in the theoretical discussion to analyse the adaptation-rel ...
WCDMP, 81. WMO Workshop on Climate Monitoring including the Implementation of a Climate Watch System in RA I with focus on eastern and southern Africa
Congress during its sixteenth session in 2011 welcomed the decision of the Commission for Climatology during its fifteenth session in 2010 for improving WMO Climate System Monitoring including related methodologies and dissemination of monitoring reports for timely information on extreme weather and climate events occurring on large scale and having high socioeconomic impacts. A brochure called "Assessment of the observed extreme conditions during the 2009/2010 boreal winter" was published by WMO in 2010 and is now followed by this supplement to the WMO annual statement on the status of the g ...
ESCWA Water Development Report, 5. Issues in sustainable water resources management and water services in the Arab region
The global community was proud to announce in 2012 that the global drinking water target articulated in the Millennium Development Goals had been met five years ahead of schedule. However, the countries of the water-scarce Arab region still face the continuing challenge of providing safe and sufficient water, and improved sanitation to its growing population. There is high variability in access to drinking water and sanitation services among Arab countries, with some countries nearly fully reliant on desalination, while others are not able to secure sufficient investments to meet basic needs.< ...
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Reflections on 20 years of land-related development projects in Central America: 10 things you might not expect, and future directions
Drawing upon several sources of information and types of analysis, including literature reviews, field visits and rapid participatory assessments, this paper provides a critical assessment of land-related development policies and projects over the past two decades in Central America. Reflections on past land-related development policies and projects in Central America are based on their contributions to growth and poverty reduction. The paper calls for future projects to better integrate poverty reduction and development goals, natural resource management, disaster risk management and climate ...
ASMET 7: Convective Weather and Aviation in West and Central Africa
The hazards associated with convective systems present some of the most dangerous conditions encountered by aircraft and pose many challenges to aviation operations. When convection is forecast to develop, aviation forecasters are required to issue a series of warning messages and other meteorological aeronautical products to various members of the aviation community. This lesson teaches these forecasters how to produce the products, doing so in the context of a case study in which learners assume the role of aeronautical forecaster on duty at the airport in Niamey, Niger on a night when conve ...
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