Stitch in time: Saving lives with early warning systems

ANNE-SOPHIE BRANDLIN

As the climate warms, increasing the frequency of extreme weather events such as heat waves, cities including Santiago de Chile, Los Angeles and Melbourne, have taken the step of appointing so-called chief heat officers. Their job is to find ways to protect citizens from the dangerous effects of extreme heat. Eleni Myrivili, who got the ball rolling in Europe when she was appointed to the role in Athens, Greece, says awareness around natural disaster risks is key. In that spirit, two years ago, she and her team began categorizing heat waves in terms of their effect on human health. “We now have a way of predicting the types of heat waves that are going to come next week, whether they’re particularly dangerous for people or not so dangerous,” she said.

Once it’s apparent how bad a heat wave is going to be, those most at risk are told how to stay safe. The initiative, which has since spread to other countries and cities, ties in neatly with a recent UN announcement to invest $3.1 ($2.8) billion to ensure everyone on the planet is covered by early warning systems by 2027.

“The idea behind the mission is that every person who loses their life due to weather, water, climate or related environmental hazards is one too many,” said Johan Stander, director of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Services Department. Given the different weather extremes that require early warnings, and the endlessly varying sets of personal circumstances to be taken into account, there is no one single fix for getting people out of harm’s way.

But Kurt Shickman, director of extreme heat initiatives at the Washington-based climate resilience foundation Arsht-Rock Center says messaging is key, “because there is a lot people can do with their own behavior to keep themselves safer.” Radio, TV and SMS can be powerful communication channels, according to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the UN agency for information and communication technologies. And text messages can even be targeted to specifically reach those in at-risk areas. But with more than 2.7 billion people on the planet still offline, such channels can only go so far.

“That’s a great concern,” said Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau. “Out of the world’s 46 least developed countries, 26 are in Africa. And these are huge countries where people live in remote areas and it’s difficult to reach them as they are lagging behind in terms of connectivity.”

He says one solution is to launch satellites, especially low Earth orbit (LEO) ones, which are more affordable and make it possible for populations even in remote areas to be covered by a signal.

ITU is also betting on a multi-hazard approach which makes use of whatever is available. In many isolated places across the world, church bells, loudspeakers and sirens are still used as backup warning systems, for instance.

Back in Athens, the message about coming heat waves is spread via social media, telephone hotlines and an extreme heat app that’s now also being used in Milan, Paris and Rotterdam.

“Our app Extrema Global shows you your personalized risk, depending on where you are in the city and your age and your gender and whether you have pre-existing conditions,” Myrivili said. “It also tells you on the map where to go to take cover, where the cool spots are around you.”

This article was provided by Deutsche Welle