Total Pageviews

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Eighteenth Southern Africa Regional Climate Outlook Forum underway in Namibia

Climate prediction experts from the National Meteorological or Hydrological Services (NMHSs) in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) are meeting at Safari Court Hotel in Windhoek, Namibia, from 27-29 August to develop a consensus climate outlook for the October 2014 to March 2015 rainfall season for the region.

The meeting is part of the Eighteenth Southern Africa Regional Climate Outlook Forum (SARCOF-18) which is a collaborative effort between the SADC Climate Services Centre, African Development Bank (AfDB), World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR), and NMHSs  in the region.

The meeting will also review the October 2013 to March 2014 rainfall season for the SADC region and discuss the potential impacts of the consensus seasonal climate outlook on socio-economic sectors including disaster risk management, food security, health, water resources and hydropower management, among others.

Also in attendance are climate scientists from universities, research institutions, as well as regional and international organizations engaged in climate modeling, prediction and applications for the region.

The theme for SARCOF-18 is Advancing Climate Information Services for Resilience Development in Southern African Region.

The SARCOF process help strengthen the capacities of professional and technical staff in a wide range of SADC institutions such as those operating in National Meteorology Hubs and Early Warning Systems, Disaster Preparedness, and Malaria Epidemics Control.

For this reason, SARCOF-18 was preceded by a 9-day Climate Experts Capacity Building Workshop of SADC NMHSs for the purposes of developing the 2014/15 seasonal climate forecast.

Furthermore, the SARCOF process also helps to improve mainstreaming of climate information and prediction services for sustainable socio-economic development in the region.

No comments:

Post a Comment