Meteorological hazards

Citation

(2001), "Meteorological hazards", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 10 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2001.07310aag.007

Meteorological hazards

Meteorological hazards

Climate Change and Extreme Weather Eventshttp://www.panda.org/resources/publications/climate/xweather/download.html

In September, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) published online a 50-page report on Climate Change and Extreme Weather Events, by P. Vellinga and W.J. van Verseveld of the Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije University of Amsterdam. The report assesses current scientific understanding of the impact of climate change on weather and meteorological extremes and addresses three main questions. To what extent can human influences on climate presently be measured? What can we expect for the short and long term? How will measures to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions affect future climate? The authors conclude that CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions are increasingly affecting temperature, precipitation, sea level rise, atmospheric circulation patterns, and ecosystems, and thus the frequency, intensity, and distribution of extreme weather events.

Environmental and Societal Impacts Group (ESIG)majordomo@ucar.eduhttp://www.esig.ucar.edu/socasp/zine/

The Environmental and Societal Impacts Group (ESIG) at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) has announced a new e-mail listserve and an educational resource guide for persons interested in research regarding the policy aspects of meteorology and climate hazards. The list is called "Weather-Policy"; to join, send an e-mail to majordomo@ucar.edu and in the body of the message type: "subscribe weather-policy <your e-mail address>" (do not include quotation marks or brackets). For additional information about the resource guide and ESIG's involvement in this area, contact Roger A. Pielke Jr, ESIG/NCAR, PO Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307 3000. Tel: (303) 497 8111; Fax: (303) 497 8125; E-mail: rogerp@ucar.edu and/or see the opening editorial in the August 2000 edition of ESIG's online periodical, Weathersine, at the URL above.

British Medical Journalhttp://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/321/7262/650http://www.bmj.com/cgicontent/full/321/7262/670

The September 16 issue of the British Medical Journal contains an editorial and paper on risks due to temperature extremes brought on by global climate change. The editorial, "Saving lives during extreme weather in summer", by Laurence Kalkstein of the Center for Climate Research, University of Delaware, calls on health professionals worldwide to work with local health agencies and emergency management offices to develop reliable systems to warn of and deal with temperature extremes. The article, "Heat related mortality in warm and cold regions of Europe: observational study", by several European researchers, offers some interesting findings: annual cold-related mortality is higher than heat-related mortality across Europe, and, overall, Europeans can be expected to adjust to global warming predicted for the next half century. The authors point out, however, that their findings in no way negate the need to take pre-emptive measures against heat stress.