As part of the US$50m President’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE) to improve climate information in vulnerable developing countries, Tomorrow.io and its non-profit partner TomorrowNow will expand multi-hazard early warning systems across Africa.
In partnership with African national meteorological and hydrological services (NMHSs) and regional institutions, PREPARE aims to strengthen the resilience of local communities, which is where organizations such as TomorrowNow.org play a role.
This initiative is intended to improve the capability of African nations to monitor, forecast and proactively adapt to the impact of day-to-day weather, in addition to extreme events, including rainfall, drought and heat, particularly on a sub-seasonal timescale.
The company highlights that climate poses a significant threat to the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people across Africa, in addition to economic growth and viability. Tomorrow.io’s weather intelligence is expected to empower the nations with more precise predictions and tools for climate resilience planning based on data from its proprietary satellite constellation and its forecasting and AI/ML modeling capabilities.
A significant aspect of this initiative is NOAA’s commitment to investing in data infrastructure in South and East Africa, facilitating a better understanding of historical weather patterns in areas where traditional observation data is sparse. This is to enable more accurate and relevant weather predictions, crucial for effective disaster preparedness and response.
“Our mission in Africa goes beyond mere weather forecasting,” said Rei Goffer, co-founder at Tomorrow.io. “It’s about creating a sustainable and resilient environment where communities can leverage weather intelligence to adapt and thrive despite the challenges posed by climate change.”
“These collective efforts, spanning the next five years, are not just about managing disasters; they’re about empowering African countries to proactively build a more climate-resilient future,” said Georgina Campbell Flatter, Director at TomorrowNow.org. “By working together to leverage the world’s most cutting-edge technology and expertise, we have the ability to implement actionable and sustainable programs now for the millions of people most vulnerable to climate change.”
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