The UAE’s new early weather warning system will help save lives amid a growing threat posed by climate change, a senior UAE official has said.
Dr Mohamed Al Ebri, director of the meteorology department at the National Centre of Meteorology, said it was important to be able to warn the public about potential weather hazards when they were abroad.
Speaking to The National on Tuesday, Dr Al Ebri said creating the system had been challenging but it was an important development.
“Because of climate change, natural disasters and severe weather have increased in severity and frequency,” said Dr Al Ebri. “We wanted to warn citizens and residents who are abroad. This is very important to save lives.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the NCM on Friday launched the “early warning system for all”, which is now up and running.
The ministry will operate the 24/7 platform that is fed data from the NCM and a network of weather stations across the world to monitor global weather hazards.
It identifies extreme events using a colour-coded system, issues predictions for the next few days, and helps inform any decision to trigger an alert to Emiratis and residents who are abroad at the time.
Severe floods in Spain and the devastating Turkey-Syria earthquake, as well as approaching tropical storms, are examples of where such an alert could prove critical but the system could operate in any country where there is a hazard.
How the system works
More details are expected but if there is an earthquake, for example; an alert flashes on screen; gives the location; details about the event; severity; details on potential aftershocks; and then ministry teams can trigger a warning if needed, giving advice on what people should do such as take action, be careful or avoid.
“The result is a pop-up that flashes, so immediately the ministry’s operation room sees," said Dr Al Ebri. "But also the severity of the incident."
The system is open for Emiratis and residents, and alerts are sent by text message to a person’s phone. Dr Al Ebri said people must have a UAE-registered mobile phone to receive alerts.
The interface was created for the ministry but Dr Al Ebri said it could in the future assist other countries looking to build their own early warning system. “It is very, very useful."
Global priority
Early warning systems have become a global priority to save lives in the face of more extreme weather events.
The UN in 2022 launched a plan to put every person in range of early warning weather systems within five years, as natural disasters have grown more powerful and frequent that scientists say the pattern is linked to climate change.
These systems are seen as crucial in helping people deal with potentially lethal events such as wildfires, drought and floods. It called for an investment of $3.1 billion between 2023 and 2027, equivalent to a cost of only 50 cents per person per year.
“People in Africa, South Asia, South and Central America, and the inhabitants of small island states are 15 times more likely to die from climate disasters,” said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres at the time.
“These disasters displace three times more people than war. And the situation is getting worse. Countries with limited early warning coverage have disaster mortality eight times higher than countries with high coverage.”
A World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) study in 2023 found only half of the world’s countries had adequate early warning systems.
Celeste Saulo, secretary general of the WMO, said boosting global warning systems was a priority for her term as head of the UN weather agency. The first woman and South American to lead the UN weather agency took up her post in January and said 30 less-developed countries susceptible to extreme weather had been identified for such systems to be developed.
“Adapting to climate change is not a choice but an essential necessity,” she said in January. “It is about building resilient communities, especially in the most vulnerable regions, capable of resisting to and recovering from climate-related disasters.”
The UAE has stepped up efforts in recent years to bolster its response to emergencies. The National Emergency, Crisis and Disaster Management Authority developed an early warning system for situations that affect the UAE.
Alerts are regular sent across numerous channels when the UAE is faced with an emergency and phone alerts are common during these times.
“Early warning systems are very important in the case of extreme weather events as they can provide the needed time to act and save lives and belongings,” said Dr Diana Francis, an assistant professor and head of the Environmental and Geophysical Science (Engeos) Lab at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi.
Dr Francis said it was important to receive accurate information from a trusted source. “It is something similar to the security alert nationals of a given country will get in case of security/war issues in the country they are in," she said. "This new system is specifically for weather and natural hazard events.”
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The bio
Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.
Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.
Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.
Favourite holiday destination: Malaysia. I went there for my honeymoon and ended up volunteering to teach local children for a few hours each day. It is such a special place and I plan to retire there one day.
MATCH INFO
Who: UAE v USA
What: first T20 international
When: Friday, 2pm
Where: ICC Academy in Dubai
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE%20SPECS
%3Cp%3EEngine%3A%203-litre%20V6%20turbo%20(standard%20model%2C%20E-hybrid)%3B%204-litre%20V8%20biturbo%20(S)%0D%3Cbr%3EPower%3A%20350hp%20(standard)%3B%20463hp%20(E-hybrid)%3B%20467hp%20(S)%0D%3Cbr%3ETorque%3A%20500Nm%20(standard)%3B%20650Nm%20(E-hybrid)%3B%20600Nm%20(S)%0D%0D%3Cbr%3EPrice%3A%20From%20Dh368%2C500%0D%3Cbr%3EOn%20sale%3A%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
