13 June 2005

Meteorologists and environmentalists from around the world are meeting in Exeter this week to discuss ways of providing better early warnings of imminent disasters, such as tsunamis.

The tsunami which destroyed many parts of south-east Asia last year highlighted the need for better and more cohesive warning systems.

This need features high on the agenda of the Conference of Commonwealth Meteorologists, being held at the Met Office in Devon, over the next four days.

It follows on from the UK-based Natural Disasters Working group meeting last week - findings from which will be fed into the conference.

More than 200,000 people died in that tsunami alone and every year natural disasters kill millions.
Experts, including geologists and meteorologists, will be discussing how to work together to establish sustainable world-wide warning systems for all types of disaster.

In the future, under climate change, severe weather and natural disasters could become more frequent and more extreme. The conference will be reviewing the effects of climate change on sustainable development. This issue will then be picked up by the G8 conference in July, about which the Met Office provides key ministerial briefings.

More about the Conference of Commonwealth Meteorologists

More about climate change