Floods,
drought s, earthquakes/tremors, wildfires and epidemics have become not just
regular features where they hardly occurred before; but have now intensified
and assumed alarming proportions even in the parts of the world where they
frequently occur. Instances can be cited
in Ghana, such as the devastating floods recorded not too long ago in the northern
parts of the country, and at Oda. It is on record that floods have become the
leading natural disaster to plague the country and has affected people the most
between 1900 and 2014. Data from the International Disaster Database EM-DAT
further indicates that floods have caused the most economic damage in the
country.
In
all of those instances the people were unaware of the pending disaster. So, though they escaped with their lives
their property as well as source of livelihoods was destroyed. Being mostly farmers, their farm produce and
seeds for planting were all totally destroyed by the floods, thereby worsening
their already impoverished lives. The
National Disaster Management Organisation
(NADMO) was overwhelmed in its efforts to salvage the situation by
providing the affected communities not only with bedding and clothing, but also
with food and seeds to rejuvenate their farming activities.
Scientists
attribute the increasing frequency and intensity of these natural disasters to
climate change. The phenomenon is
undeniably one of the most serious and engaging global problems facing humanity
in modern times. The world has only recently comprehended climate change as an
immediate threat to the continued success of society. Climate includes the
patterns of temperature, rainfall, humidity, winds and seasons. Climate change
therefore has to do with more than just a change in the weather, and involves
seasonal changes over a long period of time that play fundamental roles in
shaping natural ecosystems, the human economies and cultures that depend on
them. Experts have predicted that developing countries in particular, Ghana
inclusive, will suffer most from the impacts of climate change.
Currently, society
is essentially pursuing two options for responding to the threat of climate change
– mitigation of emissions and adaptation to potential climate impacts.
Although these actions are necessary, experts have proposed a third important
option that is related to, but not the same as conventional adaptation. This
option is to protect the population against the immediate threat and
consequences of extreme climate events such as heat waves, forest fires, floods
and droughts by providing it with “timely and actionable warnings,” through
early warning systems.
An early warning
system is fundamentally a chain of information communication systems comprising
sensor, detection, decision and broker subsystems, in a given order, working in
conjunction, forecasting and signaling disturbances that will adversely affect
the stability of the physical world. Early warning system ensures sufficient
time for preparation of resources and response actions to minimize the of the
impact of the disaster on the people and physical world, when it occurs. So,
the early warning system combines elements of information management and
decision support system for communicating the warning to the intended
recipients for response actions or inactions.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is concerned that while there are fragmented, individual warning systems for some types of climate-related hazards such as rain storms and for particular regions, there is at present no comprehensive warning system that provides early warning of
extreme climate events, their consequences and possible response options. Moreover, developing countries have much lower coverage of early warning systems than developed countries.
To address these
deficiencies, the UNEP Office of the Chief Scientist in collaboration with the
Early Warning Branch of the UNEP’s Division of Early Warning and Assessment is
developing a concept for a UN-wide multi-hazard global early warning system for
climate-related extreme weather events. It is known as CLIM-WARN and will issue
warnings to the most severely affected regions of the world - allowing
sufficient time possibly between six months to ten years for these regions to
respond to the situation. This is important because, the range of current
climate-related early warning systems remains far removed from what is actually
needed and what is technically feasible.
To this end, UNEP
convened an expert meeting and literature study to develop the concept for
CLIM-WARN. UNEP is also now working with stakeholders in three case study
countries namely – Ghana, Burkina-Faso and Kenya considered to be among
developing countries most at risk, to design a comprehensive early warning
system. Consequently, regional meetings have been held with partners in these
countries to identify potential users, develop sample plans and improve the
efficiency of data dissemination.
One of such
regional meetings was recently held at Akosombo, Ghana during which
international and national partners from the three case study countries; UNEP
Chief Scientist Office; UNESCO; World Meteorological Organisation; United
Nations International University; Red Cross and Crescent Society; ECOWAS
Commission; Integrated Water Resources Management; Care International; National
Centre for Atmospheric Science-Climate Department of Meteorology, University of
Reading, UK; and the Institute for Environment and Sanitation Studies,
University of Ghana, Legon among other institutions.
Participants spent
considerable time discussing and agreeing on the components of the guidelines
for communicating early warning, early action and preparedness, and regional
coordination. This was preceded by a series of presentations and statements
that highlighted the importance of early warning system for climate change in
the developing countries most at risk.
Sunday Leonard of
the UNEP Chief Scientist Office explained that CLIM-WARN seeks to set the stage
for an integrated and robust global early warning system. This, he said is in
pursuance of the UN’s commitments to among other things ensure timely,
coordinated and high quality assistance to all countries where disaster losses
pose a threat to peoples health and development.
Youcef Ait Chellouche of the United Nations
International Strategy for Disaster Reduction UNISDR said the rationale for
providing climate information for disaster risk reduction action, is that outside of the community of experts, many people cannot
access the forecasts; many people who access the forecasts can’t understand
them; many people who understand the forecasts do not trust them; many people
who understand and trust the forecast do not know what to do with it; and
finally many who know what to do after receiving a forecast lack the resources
to act.
The National
Coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation, NADMO, Kofi
Portorphy said in addition to providing relief items for disaster victims in
Ghana, the organisation’s current focus is educating vulnerable communities on
what to expect with certain change in the weather, what to do and where to go
for help. He urged Metropolitan
Municipal and District Assemblies to incorporate climate related risks
management plans in their activities.
As a way of assisting African countries at risk to reduce the impacts of climate related risks, Dr. Ros Cornforth of the University of Reading, UK, introduced participants to the Rainwatch and AfClix Early
Warning System. She
explained that Rainwatch will build African capacity to minimize adverse impacts
of rainfall variability by providing them with usable local climate information
in a form that is easy to understand. Dr. Cornforth said AfClix or African
Climate Exchange is designed to ensure that climate related policy decisions
for improving food security are made using best available weather and climate
science.
The Director of
the Centre for Environmental Systems Research, University of Kassel, Germany,
Professor Dr. Joseph Alcamo noted that what is essential for countries to do
now, is for them to prepare contingency plans for disaster risk reduction. For his part, the Director of IESS, Professor
Chris Gordon said the meeting has set the pace for useful data to be packaged
and disseminated to users.
In a related
development, the IESS in collaboration with Institute of Development Studies
and the University of Sussex, UK with funding from the UK based Climate and
Development Knowledge Network organized a learning event in Accra on Political
Economy Analysis of Climate Compactable Development. The event was part of an on-going research
that explores the concept that understanding and working with the prevailing
political economy of policy processes is crucial to change the understanding
and commitment of decision makers, to improve coordination, collaboration and
mobilisation amongst key stakeholders.
Participants among
other things identified interventions and strategies to overcome factors that
affect the country’s fishery industry.
The interventions included the need to depoliticize the process of
accessing pre-mix fuel by fishermen and the protection and conservation of
mangroves, which are critical for the sustainability of the fishing industry as
they provide breeding grounds for fishes.
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