Yesterday, the nation’s top climate and weather groups called on Congress and the next administration to invest more money in climate and severe weather research. The focus of their report is on resilience, stating that more needs to be understood to avoid the adverse effects of severe climatic events on our health, safety, economy, environment, transportation systems and security.
According to these groups, more than 25 percent of the gross national product ($2 trillion) is subject to weather and climatic events. They have outlined a package of five recommendations that will cost roughly $9 billion over the next five years.
- Observations. Fully fund the Earth observing system from satellite and ground-based instruments as recommended by the National Research Council.
- Computing. Greatly increase the computer power available for weather and climate research, predictions, and related applications.
- Research and Modeling. Support a broad fundamental and applied research program in Earth sciences and related fields to advance present understanding of weather and climate and their impacts on society.
- Societal Relevance. Support education, training, and communication efforts to use the observations, models, and application tools for the maximum benefit of society.
- Leadership and Management. Implement effective leadership, management, and evaluation approaches to ensure that these investments are done in the best interest of the nation.
These recommendations point to the lack of local and regional information about climate impacts. They also highlight the limitations of current models to accurately predict the impacts of weather and climate at all scales.
Be certain to check out the executive summary and full recommendations and budget estimates here.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
“These recommendations point to the lack of local and regional information about climate impacts. They also highlight the limitations of current models to accurately predict the impacts of weather and climate at all scales.”
Hmmm…we must act now because the consequences are tooo dire! Btw, those predictions of consequences are not accurate nor can we measure those consequences correctly.
Having said that, here are the steps to correct the “problems” we can’t predict or measure with real certainity.
hahahahaha…it’s so sad.
KoS