COP27: Forecasting overhaul may reduce extreme weather hazards

A UN program to revamp weather forecasting in lower-income countries could improve global climate models and help people prepare for extreme weather events

By James Dinneen

The US, Spain and Norway pledged more than $20 million for a program aiming to improve weather forecasting in a hundred lower-income countries and small island states.

Weather forecasting depends on reliable meteorological data. But many lower-income countries lack the infrastructure needed to measure and predict the weather. “There are huge data gaps,” says Markus Repnik at the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). He says many lower-income countries and small island states …