CACCC-2019: Climate Services
CAREC prepared a series of articles on plenary sessions of the Central Asian Climate Change Conference. Nadezhda Gavrilenko, head of the Hydrometeorological support service Uzhydromet, and Irina Zaitseva, Deputy Head of the Hydrometeorological Support Service Uzhydromet, spoke about climate services in Central Asia.
The main climate services today are producing medium-term and long-term weather forecasts, including changes in temperature and precipitation. Also, climate services include data on actual weather and climate trends, historical data and information on meteorological parameters, warnings about adverse and dangerous natural phenomena. In this case, the key consumers of climate services can be a diverse group of users - from policy makers to farmers.
Head of the Hydrometeorological Service Uzhydromet, Nadezhda Gavrilenko noted that the concept of climate services is new, in particular for Uzbekistan. “Within the CAMP4ASB project, we conducted an assessment of the need for climate services in order to determine which direction to go next. What needs to be developed, to focus its attention on, ”said Nadezhda Gavrilenko.
It should be noted that the concept of climate specialized services to industries has been introduced in the practice of Uzhydromet. Within the framework of operational activities, specialists share climate services depending on consumer groups: the energy sector, agriculture, water management, health care, urban planning, and defence activities. Depending on the specific needs of each sector, specialized climate services are provided.
Forecasting
One of the most important functions of climate services is to provide the population with forecasts about natural disasters. Early warnings help prevent and mitigate the effects of natural disasters, save lives, and reduce damage to property and the environment through better risk management.
Deputy Head of Hydrometeorological Service Uzhydromet, Irina Zaitseva said that information on the state of water resources is particularly relevant for Central Asia. “ Central Asia is, first of all, a region where activities in countries depend heavily on the state of water resources. Therefore, our information is very demanded in sectors such as agriculture and energy. We provide more and more information to the construction sector, the communal economy, ”explained Irina Zaitseva.
Climatic risks
According to Irina, climate risk warnings are a very important part of the work of hydrometeorological services. For the Central Asian region, these are the risks associated with increasing water scarcity, increasing the number of natural disasters such as mudflows and avalanches. It is worth noting that all Central Asian countries are particularly vulnerable to natural disasters, which are caused by weather and geographical conditions. For example, for the Republic of Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic, the economic damage from natural disasters is about 1.0% of annual GDP.
Recently there has been a tendency for heavy precipitations to occur unevenly over time and throughout the country. The extreme climate becomes more frequent and there are dramatic changes in weather conditions, ”explains Irina. A long dry period can be sharply replaced by a one-time lunge of significant precipitation.
Raising awareness
Nadezhda Gavrilenko, Head of the Hydrometeorological Support Service Uzhydromet, said that one of the ways to overcome these challenges is to inform: “Understanding climate risks, their seriousness and importance, not only at the level of decision-makers but also of the population.” Nadezhda Gavrilenko said that in many countries of Central Asia additional courses on climate change, the so-called “climate boxes”, are being introduced into the school curriculum. Uzbekistan is also actively developing this area. For example, in diplomatic universities where international specialists are trained, a course has been introduced and open lessons are held on climate change, and on the related challenges the region faces today. This includes issues of transboundary monitoring.
An important factor in mitigating climate risks is the strengthening of human resources and the strengthening of the technological park of national hydrometeorological and climate services. "Installation of monitoring systems, meteorological stations and hydrological posts, expansion of the network of upper-air and radar observations, extensive use of remote sensing data - all this will help to strengthen the information base, and make it possible to timely inform people that there is a threat of a particular phenomenon to take appropriate measures “- said Nadezhda Gavrilenko.
At the same time, Irina Zaitseva notes that raw data does not reflect the full picture. It is important to analyze the data, as well as to identify key characteristics of those for other purposes. “Consumers themselves do not always understand what exactly they need. The task of a specialist is to explain to them how climatic parameters may affect their activities, and process them accordingly, ”explained Irina.
In addition, effective climate services require not only technical capacity, but also active communication and information exchange between data producers, analysts, and user communities. For example, the tasks of the authorized departments include conducting preventive classes on the prevention and elimination of emergency situations of natural or man-made characters that may be caused against the background of natural phenomena.
Discussions on CACCC-2019
During the thematic plenary session at TsAKIK-2019, the keynote will reflect the role of climate services and products in economic development and human security. Separately, the complex nature of the information value chain, which provides the process of converting raw climate data into practical information, will be addressed. In addition, during the session, representatives from Central Asian countries will provide information on which climate services and products are currently available, as well as the needs for additional equipment.