Pakistan floods could have been minimised: US team

[The HBS Guy]

Pakistan floods could have been minimised: US team ​

WASHINGTON - LAST year's disastrous floods in Pakistan could have been minimised if European weather monitors had shared their data and it had been properly processed, US researchers said on Monday.

Catastrophic monsoon rains that swept through the country in July and August killed thousands, affected 20 million people, destroyed 1.7 million homes and damaged 5.4 million acres of arable land, experts have said.

'This disaster could have been minimised and even the flooding could have been minimised,' said lead author Peter Webster, a professor of earth and atmospheric science at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

'If we were working with Pakistan, they would have known eight to 10 days in advance that the floods were coming.' Using data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF), Webster and colleagues found the floods could have been predicted if the data 'had been processed and fed into a hydrological model, which takes terrain into account.'

Mr Webster's research has been accepted for publication in a future edition of the journal Geophysical Research Letters, the American Geophysical Union said in a statement.

But the London-based ECMWF, which includes 33 participating European countries, defended itself saying it 'does not give out weather forecasts and weather warnings to the general public or media.' -- AFP

Pakistan floods could have been minimised: US team

 

[somebozo]

Abb kiya rona jab churiyan chug gaye khet!
Sometimes i have a feeling that higher ups in islamabad criminal ignore potential disaster warnings to use it as an excuse for enlarging their begging bowl.

 

[Frank Martin]

Pakistan floods could have been minimised: US team ​

WASHINGTON - LAST year's disastrous floods in Pakistan could have been minimised if European weather monitors had shared their data and it had been properly processed, US researchers said on Monday.

Catastrophic monsoon rains that swept through the country in July and August killed thousands, affected 20 million people, destroyed 1.7 million homes and damaged 5.4 million acres of arable land, experts have said.

'This disaster could have been minimised and even the flooding could have been minimised,' said lead author Peter Webster, a professor of earth and atmospheric science at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

'If we were working with Pakistan, they would have known eight to 10 days in advance that the floods were coming.' Using data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF), Webster and colleagues found the floods could have been predicted if the data 'had been processed and fed into a hydrological model, which takes terrain into account.'

Mr Webster's research has been accepted for publication in a future edition of the journal Geophysical Research Letters, the American Geophysical Union said in a statement.

But the London-based ECMWF, which includes 33 participating European countries, defended itself saying it 'does not give out weather forecasts and weather warnings to the general public or media.' -- AFP

Pakistan floods could have been minimised: US team

So, what now?has there any accord made for sharing similiar data in future?

 

[majesticpankaj]

for the sake of humanity.. these kind of data should be shared with all the countries..

 

[flameboard]

for the sake of humanity.. these kind of data should be shared with all the countries..

If they don't want to share it with the media then when not the government?

 

[serenader]

If they don't want to share it with the media then when not the government?

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