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& EVENTS ECE News Indonesia | Philippines | Vietnam | Archives Internationally Acclaimed Scientist Dr. Michael Glantz Speaks on Climate- Society
Interactions at AIT Dr. Michael Glantz, senior scientist at the US National Center for Atmospheric Research, delivered a Special Lecture to a filled-to-capacity audience at the Milton Bender Jr. Auditorium. In his talk entitled "Preparing for El Niņo: A Climate Affairs Challenge", he spoke candidly about what we do and do not know about climate anomalies and the El Niņo Southern Oscillation. For some countries, Glantz contends, the association between climate anomalies and El Niņo is already demonstrated with enough reliability to guide decision-making. At the same time, the public, policy makers and educators need to know more about the various ways that forecasts can be used in the sustainable development of society and economy. In addition to forecasting climate, it is critical that we forecast specific societal impacts of El Niņo and effectively communicate these impact outlooks to vulnerable communities. Glantz strongly believes that national scientific establishments need the support of their governments as well as international donor agencies to undertake studies on regional and local problems related to El Niņo. Moreover, educators at all levels should encourage their students to study the interactions among climate, society and the environment. At the university level, Glantz suggests, such studies might be supported through the development of a Climate Affairs Program. Dr. Glantz's lecture was part of the Asian Climate Training (ACT) Workshop organized by the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center and the Thai Meteorological Department in partnership with national, regional and international institutions. The Special Lecture at AIT was hosted jointly by AIT and ADPC and was presided over by the AIT President Prof. Jean-Louis Armand and the ADPC Executive Director Dr. Suvit Yodmani. View Slide Show (pdf format) Visit Climate Affairs Capacity Building Website El Niņo Brewing Reports from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show that an El Niņo is brewing in Asia, with a strong likelihood that it will become full-blown during June or July. Meteorological centers around the world are debating whether or not to issue warnings for countries to begin preparing for many of the extreme climate events which occurred during the 1997-98 El Niņo, such as droughts, floods, and decreased crop production.
Click here for ACT manual guide 7-18 May 2002 ADPC and the Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) are co-organizing a training workshop on climate information applications, in association with the International Research Institute for Climate Prediction and the East-West Center. The goal of the workshop is to bring together forecasters and climate information users in the agriculture, water resources, and public health sectors for hands-on training on the more effective use of climate information for decision making. The Extreme Climate Events Program (ECE) was initiated as a follow on to the Asian Regional Meeting organized by ADPC from 2 to 6 February 1998, in collaboration with NOAA and with funding from OFDA. The goal of ECE was to significantly improve the understanding of the impacts on society from extreme climate events. Since 1999, ECE has been working with our partners in Indonesia, Philippines, and Vietnam to learn more about extreme climate events, their impacts, and how we can best reduce the risks of disaster.
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