Climate Talks Aim for Better Prediction

Weather experts begin talks this week aimed at improving climate change predictions and preparations for extreme weather around the globe.

Members of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and other groups, including agencies of the United Nations began meeting in Geneva today for three days of discussion designed to set the stage for next year's World Climate Conference.

The theme of next year's conference, the third such international event, also to be held in Geneva, will be "Climate Prediction for Decision-Making." The talks will address ways to improve global climate predictions from seasonal to multi-decade time frames.

This week's gathering marks the first time the international organizing committee for next year's conference gets together to draft plans for the event.

While numerous climate centers around the globe are studying climate change and seeking ways to improve short- and long-term predictions, the WMO says coordinating such efforts could help decision-makers better prepare for extreme weather events and improve responses worldwide.

"We can better help the planet respond to the threat of climate variability and change by improving forecasts of temperature and rainfall patterns, as well as other climatic parameters, and then effectively delivering this information to governments, businesses, farmers and end-users in many other sectors," said Michel Jarraud, secretary-general of the WMO. "Having access to short-, mid- and long-term rainfall and temperature forecasts makes it possible for better planning of crop growth, water use, energy production and in many other areas."

The first World Climate Conference was held in 1979 and led to the creation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) nine years later. The second conference, held in 1990, helped drive the establishment of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, also known as the Kyoto Protocol.

Leading climate centers around the world include the National Climatic Data Center and the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, both in the U.S., the Met Office Hadley Center in the U.K. and the climate center of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Australia.

Later this spring, on April 22, another U.N. organization -- the United Nations Environmental Program -- plans to recognize leaders in the fight against climate change and other environmental problems with its 2008 Champions of the Earth Awards. Among the award winners are New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, who has set a goal for making her nation carbon neutral.

Scientists with the IPCC last year issued their latest report indicating that rising, human-caused carbon dioxide emissions are contributing to a changing climate around the globe. Climate change effects observed so far include rapidly melting ice caps and dwindling sea ice in the Earth's polar regions, increased acidification of the world's oceans and rising global sea levels.