Water Stewardship Information Sources

Citation Pinna Sustainability. 2013. Atmospheric Rivers State of Knowledge Report. Prepared for PCIC, PICS and BC Ministry of Environment
Organization PCIC
URL https://www.pacificclimate.org/sites/default/files/publications/Atmospheric%20Report%20Final%20Revised.pdf
Abstract/Description or Keywords The Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium (PCIC) in
partnership with the Pacific Institute for Climate
Solutions (PICS), and the BC Ministry of Environment
Climate Action Secretariat, hosted a one-day BC
Atmospheric River Events: State of the Knowledge
Workshop on the 7th of March, 2013. This workshop
brought together a group of climate scientists,
forecasters, emergency management professionals,
and policy advisors from the North American Pacific
West Coast and Yukon regions to take stock of current
knowledge on atmospheric rivers (ARs), understand the
risks of climate related extreme precipitation events,
and identify gaps in knowledge for further study. This
report summarizes the learning from this workshop and
offers a concise overview of opportunities to enhance
our knowledge of ARs in British Columbia. A full list of
presenters and participants is included in Appendix A.
This paper serves as a summary of the proceedings
of this event, and presents the current state of our
knowledge in the following themes:
• Our Current Understanding
• Enhancing Our Understanding
• Enhancing Our Response
• Stakeholder Mapping
Beginning from a Position of
Strength
Before turning attention to emerging knowledge and
opportunities, it is important to recognize the many
achievements and successful partnerships currently
working to protect our communities from extreme
precipitation events. Our forecasting, and emergency
preparedness communities are skilled at leveraging
personal relationships and resources to predict and
prepare for extreme weather. As reported at the
1 INTRODUCTION
workshop, when Environment Canada forecasters
issue a storm warning for a location on the west coast
they are correct 85% of the time, and only 27% of
storms occur without a storm warning being issued.
This success in developing localized forecasts from
global information is on par with other international
forecasting bodies.
Successful relationships between forecasters and
emergency preparedness practitioners are also
apparent. Emergency managers report that while
there is an increase of insurance claims and costs due
to damage caused by extreme precipitation, there is
a reported reduction in the loss of human life. These
measures indicate that forecasters and emergency
managers have become better able to remove human
communities from harm’s way despite increased
damages to property.
In addition to the partners who are directly involved with
forecasting and response, governments and research
institutes such as PCIC have also built successful
relationships that nurture a greater understanding of
BC’s climate and the impacts of climate change. These
groups support a growing understanding of how our
local climate is changing, improve our understanding
of how these changes may have an impact on extreme
weather, and organize this information in a way that
helps decision makers prepare for and respond to
extreme events. This information may be useful when
planning for long-term trends in extreme events.
Information Type report
Regional Watershed Province
Sub-watershed if known
Aquifer #
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