World Meteorological Day is being observed worldwide on March 23 under the theme “Early Warning and Early Action.”
In observance of this day, News Update on Wednesday spoke to Chief Hydro-Meteorological Officer at the Hydromet Office Dr Garvin Cummings on the work the office is doing to facilitate early warning and action in the country.
According to Dr Cummings, the hydromet office is trying to change things around and move away from the regular ‘weather forecasting’ to also providing services and products that can help the various sectors respond to the changing weather patterns.
“It’s about tailoring products and services to various sectors so that they can make decisions based on the information provided so hearing a 100mml of rainfall as an example in the tourism sector, that triggers certain actions,” he explained.
He said this will assist in making better decisions in areas such as agriculture and engineering when there are hydrometeorological hazards.
“It’s about making the products applicable to all the various users so that decision making can be enhanced,” Dr Cummings stated.
Meanwhile, Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha said as climate change leads to an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather, the need for effective early warnings and early action must take centre stage.
He said disaster preparedness and the ability to take action at the right time and in the right place can save lives and protect the livelihoods of communities everywhere, now and in the future.
In this regard, Minister Mustapha said the Ministry of Agriculture remains committed to improving forecasting competency and national monitoring infrastructure to enhance Guyana's disaster risk reduction efforts through early warnings and early action.
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