By MELODY M. AGUIBA
March 17, 2009, 12:00am
The Philippines is working on a world-class meteorological agency (WCMA) status as part of mitigating any adverse effects associated with climate change such as sea rise or temperature rise.
The WCMA status involves the upgrading of obsolete equipment that predict weather and the training of more climate experts in order to promote their skills to international standards. This involves rehabilitation of existing Doppler radars, which produces velocity information, and the acquisition of new ones.
The country’s capacity to capture images of weather factors through satellite imagery should also be enhanced. The country already has Doppler radars in Baguio, Baler, Hinatuan in Surigao, Virac in Ilocos, Guian in Samar, Aparri-Cagayan, Subic, Daet in Camarines Sur, and Tagaytay. But a few more of these radars have to be constructed to further improve accuracy of weather predictions.
The country’s target is to achieve a WCMA status by 2013. “We had the instruction from President Arroyo to upgrade our status to world class level. We need it because of our vulnerability to climate change due to our arhipelagic nature,” said DoST Secretary Estrella Alabastro in an interview
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