Early warning systems safeguard communities

EARLY warning systems (EWS) have become the buzzword throughout the meteorology community across the world over the last three years.

- OUPA SEGALWE

With the United Nations (UN) spearheading a worldwide campaign for the protection of every person on earth from hazardous weather, water or climate events by the end of 2027, EWS have been identified as central to the success of Secretary-General Mr Antonio Guterres’s ambitious Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative.

According to the UN, EWS are a proven, efficient, and cost-effective way to save lives and jobs, land, and infrastructure, and support long-term sustainability.

The intergovernmental body shares further that EWS are urgently needed as climate change is causing more frequent and intense extreme weather events, resulting in widespread adverse impacts and related losses and damages to nature and people.

However, the success of EWS depends on society making a habit of regularly consulting trusted weather information sources to forge actions that could save lives and property.

South Africa is a country prone to hazardous weather events. These include heavy rainfall, which tends to spawn floods and mudslides; severe thunderstorms, which sometimes come with damaging hail and tornadoes; snowfall, drought and heatwaves.

Experts predict that, with climate change continuing to take root, the severity of weather events on the continent will get worse with time.