2- the world agro meteorological information service（2 -世界农业气象信息服务）.doc

Chapter 2 Economic impact of extreme weather events and the potential benefits of agrometeorological information Vanda Cabrinha1 (1) Ministerio da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior, Instituto de Meteorologia, I.P, Rua C – Aeroporto de Lisboa, Tel.: (+351) 21 844 7000, e-mail:informacoes@meteo.pt, 1749-077 Lisboa – Portugal Fax: (+351) 21 840 2370, URL:http://www.meteo.pt 2.1 Summary (Introduction) Agrometeorology, is an interdisciplinary science requiring the knowledge of meteorology and the climatology of the agricultural systems, with the objective that “The systems” become more efficient and more sustainable. It happens, basically, on the plants and animals that are integrated in these systems, but must enclose all the factors that have a climatic component that stand out for the system to be more efficient and sustainable (Abreu, J.P, 2008). In that sense, the climatic and meteorological information has to be treated and presented in a simple convenient form. The climatic information is static and valid for a long period of time, so it must be prepared in graphical format and supply computer tools that support strategic decisions on agriculture and industry in order to minimize the impacts that can occur due to extreme climatic events (Abreu, J.P, 2008). Agrometeorological information and services from the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) are increasingly being demanded by the farming community to cope more efficiently with climate variability and the increasing incidence of extreme meteorological events such as droughts, floods, frosts and wind erosion, which leads to serious socio-economic impacts on the agricultural sector (Sivakumar, 2007). Some of these impacts associated to agriculture, food security and livestock are: Due to little rainfall: · Total/partial crop failure, in the affected areas especially; · No support for regeneration of pasture and browse for livestock; · Rising losses in livestock. Du