How climate data scarcity costs lives

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Disaster risk experts say understanding increasingly volatile climate patterns and weather forecasts in the Andes would help residents like Vargas Hancco adapt to hazards, and enable local authorities to better respond to their needs. But this kind of data is frequently unavailable in Peru and many countries hit hardest by the climate crisis.

Localised data can help governments project climate forecasts, prepare for disasters as early as possible, and create long-term policies for adapting to climate change.

Wealthier countries tend to have better access to new technology that allows for more accurate predictions, such as networks of temperature, wind, and atmospheric pressure sensors.

But roughly half the world’s countries do not have multi-hazard early warning systems, according to the UN’s World Meteorological Organization. Some 60 percent lack basic water information services designed to gather and analyse data on surface, ground, and atmospheric water, which could help reduce flooding and better manage water. Some 43 percent do not communicate or interact adequately with other countries to share potentially life-saving information.

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