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How climate services can help
people adapt to variability and change
Filipe Domingos Freires Lúcio, Head, Global Framework for Climate Services Office, World Meteorological Organization
H
umanity has thrived over the past millennia because
of its ability to innovate and adapt. Adapting to new
climate conditions, however, has rarely been painless.
It has often involved migration and conflict, accompanied by
death and suffering. Today, with billions of mouths to feed, a
heavy dependence on vulnerable infrastructure, and the risk that
climate change will cause rapid and unprecedented impacts, the
stakes are as high as ever.
How the natural environment responds to climate variability and
change is critically important to human well-being. While people
live everywhere on Earth, from the frozen Arctic to the hot and
steamy equator, most plant and animal species are too sensitive to
climate to inhabit such a broad range. So when the climate that they
are used to warms up or cools down, or moisture levels change,
many species must either die or migrate. Today the evidence for how
climate affects the living world is everywhere.
A recent study reported that Australia’s fish populations are moving
southward because the waters around Australia are becoming warmer.
Food supplies will be affected unless the fishing industry is able to adapt
to this and future changes. The record drought that struck
the United States in the summer of 2012 had a significant
impact on global food supplies and commodity prices.
Will the drought return next year? Knowing the probabil-
ity of good harvests around the world in 2013 would assist
planners and markets to ensure global food security.
Even the microscopic viruses and bacteria that can
affect human health are climate-sensitive. Dry and dusty
conditions in the Sahel region of Africa often precede
outbreaks of meningitis; getting climate information to
health providers before such conditions progress can
ensure more effective vaccination campaigns. In other
regions, a particularly wet season can lead to greater
incidences of malaria. The flu virus is transmitted more
easily in winter, when the atmosphere is colder and drier.
These illnesses kill people and harm the economy, so
minimizing their impact is important.
The availability of water for agriculture, industry and
households also fluctuates with climate. Planners need
to know when to restrict water usage before a pending
Japan Meteorological Agency experts monitoring extreme weather phenomena
Image: Japan Meteorological Agency
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