HR: 11:25h
AN: U32C-01    [Abstracts]
TI: A Vision of International Drought Monitoring Across the Western Hemisphere
AU: * Lawrimore, J H
EM: jay.lawrimore@noaa.gov
AF: NOAA National Climatic Data Center, 151 Patton Avenue, Asheville, NC 28801, United States
AU: Heim, R R
EM: richard.heim@noaa.gov
AF: NOAA National Climatic Data Center, 151 Patton Avenue, Asheville, NC 28801, United States
AB: Drought is an environmental hazard which results in billions of dollars in economic losses as well as societal suffering and increased mortality in many parts of the world each year. No country is immune from its effects and there is documented evidence of an increasing trend in droughts in many regions since the 1970s. There is also a high likelihood of droughts affecting an ever larger proportion of the world as global temperatures continue to rise. This reality along with the wide-ranging societal and economic impacts of drought upon the world's countries calls out for coordinated international drought monitoring and response. A demonstration of the potential for contributions through international collaboration was made through the establishment of a North American Drought Monitor (NADM) partnership between the United States, Mexico, and Canada in 2002. The United States has also recently initiated development of a National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) to coordinate drought monitoring, mitigation, and research activities at federal, state, and local levels within the United States. Building on the successes and lessons learned from these ongoing activities, efforts are now underway to establish linkages with other countries throughout the Western Hemisphere to begin building a hemispheric-wide drought monitoring program. Partnerships already established through the Earth Observation Partnership of the Americas (EOPA) and the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) will be an integral part of this new effort. In view of the significant impacts of drought, its international scale, the likelihood of droughts becoming more frequent, severe, and widespread, and the efforts to establish international observational systems and partnerships, this presentation will explore the prospects of expanding international drought monitoring across the Western Hemisphere.
DE: 1616 Climate variability (1635, 3305, 3309, 4215, 4513)
DE: 1812 Drought
DE: 3309 Climatology (1616, 1620, 3305, 4215, 8408)
SC: Union [U]
MN: 2007 Joint Assembly