The Foreign Service Journal, December 2010

D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 0 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 33 the WMO and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission organ- ized an international response. This included establishment of a global network to collect information needed to deliver early warnings of tsunamis, which threaten coastal zones worldwide. This network now generates such alerts for transmission to vir- tually every country in the world within minutes of a significant seismic event. The WMO has developed similar initiatives aimed at providing early warning for severe weather in Central America and the Caribbean, southern Africa and the southwest Pacific, fo- cusing on infrastructure, training and outreach to build weather forecasting capacity. Sustaining weather observation networks and weather research depends on strong national hydrometeorological services, but in developing countries such organizations usually have limited resources. In these circumstances, WMO support for capacity-building can pay long-term dividends. Improving a nation’s ability to predict weather and warn citizens builds economic value by protecting in- vestments and development assistance. Major disasters, such as 1998’s Hurricane Mitch, can depress the economic growth of a country for many years after the initial impact, leading to political and economic instability and, often, mi- gration. Major challenges to the creation of such capacities in- clude training and retention of meteorologists, improving the ability to deliver services, and upgrading weather ob- servation and communications technologies. In coordina- tion with donor countries, the WMO facilitates projects that build these capacities and raise the proficiency of par- ticipants to become full partners in global, collaborative meteorological and environmental initiatives. SWFDP: A Good Example One example of a highly successful program to improve meteorological services and forecasting capabilities is WMO’s SevereWeather Forecasting Demonstration Proj- ect. The initial regional subproject took place from No- vember 2006 through November 2007 in southern Africa. The WMO facilitated the acquisition of needed tech- nology and the NWS, through its Africa training desk, provided the forecaster training and continues to contribute products for use in the region. The Republic of South Africa served as the regional foun- dation through its weather service, providing weather forecasts to sup- port meteorological services in the five developing countries that par- ticipated: Botswana, Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zim- babwe. At the conclusion of the project, the participants all noted significant improvement in their ability to forecast severe weather and in their warning services delivered to the general public, the media and disaster management organizations. As a result, the government of South Africa agreed to continue its support indefinitely and extend its service to all 15 member-states of the South African De- velopment Community. A similar regional project has been implemented in the South Pacific, for Fiji, Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, with the weather serv- ice of New Zealand serving as the regional base. While the SWFDP focused on improving the forecast- ing of severe weather in a time frame of one to five days, developing countries are also seriously vulnerable to longer-range climate changes, such as prolonged drought. Climate research is providing information and tools that offer the promise to improve agricultural production and the capacity to plan for sustainable agricultural develop- ment, enabling local farmers to stretch scarce resources for maximum benefit. WMO members promote water-resource assessments and furnish the forecasts and climate information needed to plan water storage, agricultural activities and urban de- velopment. The SWFDP projects intend to expand or link to flash flood forecasting and agricultural services in regions where heavy rainfall or water shortages have disastrous con- sequences. New projects are now being developed for Southeast Asia and Eastern Africa. Water Management and Early Warning The WMO’s Hydrology and Water Resource Program assists member-nations in maintaining their systems for ac- quiring water-related information and for disseminating it to decision-makers and other stakeholders. The WMO’s F O C U S Between 1956 and 1965, there were more than 2.6 million deaths caused by severe weather events; between 1996 and 2005, this number decreased to 220,000.