Better weather forecasts key to battling billion-dollar disasters, experts tell House panel

Experts told delegates Wednesday that supporting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to improve weather models and forecasts is critical to saving lives and reducing recovery costs.

According to NOAA, the United States will experience 28 multibillion-dollar weather and climate disasters in 2023, and the costs associated with helping communities recover from natural disasters are at an all-time high.

Chairman Max Miller (R-Ohio) of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee’s Environment Subcommittee said natural disasters affect a wide range of people and businesses, from Ohio farmers to large manufacturing plants. He said he would give it.

“It’s easy to see that weather data doesn’t just help you decide what to wear for the day,” Miller says. “Strengthening the national economy and security by supporting long-term decision-making. The inability to accurately predict the weather has significant economic and humanitarian consequences, and the United States We cannot afford to fall behind on the world stage.”

The United States has unique challenges in predicting weather. Scott Weaver, CEO of CLIMET Consulting, said the country’s weather events are more diverse, more frequent and more intense than any other country.

Since 1980, the United States has experienced more than 8,000 deaths and $2.5 trillion in economic losses from extreme weather events, with $1 trillion of that occurring in the past seven years. Weaver said the breadth of the problems can make forecasting efforts difficult, but there are still things the U.S. can do to improve.

The United States has an opportunity to become a world leader in climate science and weather services, but to do so it must “coordinate a thriving research and applications enterprise to finally begin to bend the nation’s annual weather disaster loss curve.” Weaver said there is.

Aeris CEO Kevin Petty said Congress should not impose new responsibilities on NOAA that don’t add value and allow NOAA to plan a time-sensitive annual budget through the budgeting process. , said it may be able to support this effort.

For its part, NOAA needs to develop a clear and concise weather forecast improvement strategy, evaluate its current structure, consider building an independent modeling team, and further develop partnerships with the private sector. The head of a science and technology innovation enterprise suggested.

Petty told the committee that due to factors such as climate change and population growth, NOAA needs to rely on outside companies to meet its goals of observing, calculating, modeling and distributing weather information.

Ranking member Deborah Ross (DN.C) said it was important to ensure people had the right information as extreme weather conditions worsened.

“While we cannot completely prevent the danger and damage associated with severe storms, we can reduce them, including by providing appropriate warning to affected communities,” Ross said. “Integrating timely and accurate weather information with effective and accessible communications is essential to our goal of protecting American life and property.”