Climate Information Crucial to Help Reduce Risk, Limit Disaster Damage: Report

The report details ways in which disaster risk managers can improve their decision making by integrating climate information into their operations.

Forecasts can play an invaluable role when used properly in helping humanitarian agencies and governments plan for and prevent disasters, according to a new report launched recently by the American Red Cross.

Climate and weather disasters, from the massive floods in Pakistan, Australia, and Colombia, to the devastating drought in Niger, have claimed thousands of lives and caused billions of dollars in damages in the last year. According to statistics from the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, these types of disasters have risen significantly in the last few decades. Scientists expect changes in climate will make extreme events more frequent and intense in the future.

Governments and humanitarian organizations, such as the United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) are placing greater emphasis on trying to prevent and minimize the impact of disasters by making earlier and better informed decisions ahead of time. The new report, called A Better Climate for Disaster Risk Management, is the latest in the Climate and Society series produced by the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI).

The report details ways in which disaster risk managers can improve their decision making by integrating climate information into their operations. Monthly, seasonal, and long-term climate forecasts typically provided by national meteorological agencies and expert institutions such as NOAA and IRI can guide contingency planning, logistical preparations, and resource-allocation decisions. At the same time, information about how the climate is likely to change in coming decades helps disaster managers evaluate how investments made today will stand up to future extremes.