Climate prediction and information for decision-making
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (2007), there is amounting evidence of regional and global climate change. These changes will expose societies to climate conditions previously unknown to them, including, among others, high frequencies and intensities of severe weather and extreme climate events.
The risks of unknown magnitudes, associated with these changes and climate variability, will pose major threats to society and the environment that will significantly jeopardize the social and economic development of all communities, especially in the vulnerable communities of the developing and Least Developed Countries. Societies will require new approaches to cope with the new risks associated with climate change. The recent stress on global food supply and large loss of life associated with severe tropical storms provide us with dramatic examples of the challenges that the world would face as a result of a changed climate. The climate can provide or deny us life-supporting needs. It can lead to enhanced food production but also to extreme water stress, starvation, high levels of poverty and even loss of life.
