Weather specialists and scientists from 14 nations wound up a three-week training session at the East-West Center last week. A focal point was making long-term weather predictions clear to citizens of the world.
The 20 professionals came mostly from Pacific nations.
"We thought about ways to present information usefully to people outside the scientific community," said Eileen Shea, a biologist and environmental specialist who is coordinator of the East-West Center’s Climate Program.
Researchers are beginning to better understand how the future of the weather is of critical importance to people on the ground.
Shea gave the example of tuna fishing and El Nino, an extended change in weather patterns which in the Pacific can mean winter drought and hurricanes. "We’ve learned that tuna follow warm water," she said. "An El Nino that changes water temperatures can for some island nations literally take a lot of the economic base out of their control."
National planners also studied climate changes over decades and longer periods. The knowledge can be used in planning crops, land development, water projects and much more, she said.
One of the strengths of the training institute was that the far-flung members of the course will now keep in contact through a computer bulletin board, creating "a network of individuals skilled in the development and use of climate information," Shea said.
The Training Institute on Climate and Society in the Asia Pacific Region was sponsored by the East-West Center, the Asia Pacific Network for Global Change Research, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Global Change, the University of Hawai‘i International Pacific Research Center and the International START Secretariat.
START stands for System for Analysis, Research and Training, a global climate change research effort that supports climate research, brings climate researchers together and gets climate information to governments around the world.
