Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
damage from extreme events (IPCC
2012a
). EWS inform populations at risk and
provide timely warnings to allow for preparation (UNEP
2012a
). An EWS consists,
however, of much more than just a forecasting system (IPCC
2012a
). The HFA
points out that EWS must include “guidance on how to act upon warnings” and they
should be “understandable to those at risk” (UNISDR
2010
). In a changing future
with a predicted increase in extreme events, there is a growing need to strengthen
disaster risk management and adequate response strategies. A particular focus
should lie on multi-hazard EWS, as these are still very rare and not available on a
global scale. More about EWS can be found in Chap.
5
.
2.5
Conclusion
Extreme weather events are going to happen, they have happened in the past and the
will happen in the future. Most likely, however, the frequency and intensity of
extreme events is going to be changed as the environment in which they occur has
altered due to climate change. The GAR (UNISDR
2013a
) even warns that “the
worst is yet to come.” The human impact on the climate system is clear (IPCC
2013
). Whether or not individual events can be attributed to human impacts, a focus
has to lie on reducing the disastrous outcome of natural hazards. This can be done
in a variety of ways, EWS as well as reducing underlying vulnerability and expo-
sure of people and assets are among them.
Chris Field, Co-Chair of the IPCC Working Group II who together with Working
Group I produced the IPCC SREX report, gets to the point:
The main message from the report is that we know enough to make good decisions about
managing the risks of climate-related disasters. Sometimes we take advantage of this
knowledge, but many times we do not, […] [t]he challenge for the future has one dimension
focused on improving the knowledge base and one on empowering good decisions, even for
those situations where there is lots of uncertainty. (IPCC
2012a
)
References
Allen M (2003) Liability for climate change. Nature 421(6926):891-892
Bailey R (2013) Managing famine risk. Linking early warning to early action. A Chatham House
report, London
Baines PG, Folland CK (2007) Evidence for a rapid global climate shift across the late 1960s.
J Climate 20(12):2721-2744
Below R, Wirtz A, Guha-Sapir D (2009) Disaster category classifi cation and peril terminology for
operational purposes working paper.
http://www.gripweb.org/gripweb/?q=countries-risk-
Sept 2013
Bender MA, Knutson TR, Tuleya RE, Sirutis JJ, Vecchi GA, Garner ST, Held IM (2010) Modeled
impact of anthropogenic warming on the frequency of intense Atlantic hurricanes. Science
327:454-458
Search WWH ::
Custom Search