A European website offers early warnings for extreme weather
As the world celebrated Meteorological Day last Friday, the European Union launched an early warning system for dangerous weather phenomena on www.meteoalarm.eu. The initiative belongs to the Network of European Meteorological Services (EUMETNET) and is supported by the World Meteorological Organization. Participants on the site are Greece, Austria (where the system’s headquarters are based), Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Hungary, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, the United Kingdom and Cyprus. «People are bombarded daily by information without fully comprehending the dangers that may threaten them in their daily routines from a dangerous weather phenomenon,» explains Dimitris Ziakopoulos, director of the Greek National Meteorological Service, who is also in charge of the country’s participation in Meteoalarm. «I am glad I was a part of the working group for the cooperation of European weather services, together with my colleague Chrysoula Petrou.» The site has maps of Europe and of each particular country, and a color-coded key delineating the various warning levels – green, yellow, orange and red – while there is also a key illustrating wind, rain, snow etc. «When a region is colored in green, then the conditions are safe,» says Ziakopoulos. «It doesn’t mean that there won’t be any rain, but that if there is, it will not pose a risk. The yellow scale shows that there is a small risk, especially for people working outdoors. Orange means some risk and possible damage that is often inevitable considering the forces of nature. Here, citizens must pay attention to warnings issued by local authorities, in Greece’s case the General Secretary of the Civil Protection Authority. Red delineates phenomena that occur quite rarely, say about once a year, such as the snowfall of the last few years or the heat wave of 1987. We have split Greece into 16 zones and each is given its corresponding color. The system can give a 48-hour prognosis, which is published in the morning and updated every afternoon and night.» Though there is a plethora of websites with information about the weather everywhere around the world, Ziakopoulos says that «the issue is how well people interpret the information. The Greek weather service is very proud of its reliability and we try to shut our ears to calls for a 15-day prognosis that can only assist television ratings.» On matters pertaining to the weather, he adds, «only specialists should have a say and then they should not go around scaremongering. We also ask that others do not intervene in a prognosis with their own theories. This just leads people to panic. Lastly, in cases of extreme weather phenomena, the final word lies with the National Meteorological Service.» Developments in the science of meteorology have also brought a need for changes at the national weather service. «There are a few ministers and deputies who have to some extent understood the problems we are facing, such as staff shortages. We are waiting for certain projects to come through. There is always room for improvement,» says Ziakopoulos. 2007, International Polar Year, focuses on research The year 2007 has been named International Polar Year and the focus has been placed on research. According to the World Meteorological Organization: – Polar regions serve as the «guardians» of the Earth’s weather archives and they also serve as an early warning system. – The Earth’s poles have warmed up significantly in comparison to other regions. In Antarctica, Siberia and Alaska/Northern Canada, the temperature over the last 50 years has risen by 1.5 degrees Celsius. The result on a global scale will be a rise in water levels, meaning increased flooding and the immersion of coastal areas. Biodiversity and indigenous populations, such as the Inuit, who live off the flora and fauna of the land, will also be at risk. People living in the Arctic have noted warmer winters, changeable weather and changes in the ecosystems of the sea and land. In October 2006, the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North warned the intergovernmental Arctic Council – comprising Canada, Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States – that pressures for economic development and pollution are threatening hunting activities and reindeer populations. Cracks due to the polar freeze in oil pipelines running through the Arctic also pose a huge pollution risk. – The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that between 1999 and 2100 the average global temperature will go up by 1.4-5.8 degrees Celsius, while the level of the seas is expected to rise by 9-88 centimeters.
