Weather info for all

Mobile communications to revolutionize African weather monitoring.

Unpredictable and extreme weather takes a huge toll each year on both lives and resources. Better information and real-time weather warnings help people prepare themselves, and can directly save lives and reduce suffering.

A 2009 report from the Global Humanitarian Forum (GHF), The Anatomy of a Silent Crisis, states that every year climate change causes over 300,000 deaths, seriously affects 325 million people, and leads to economic losses of USD 125 billion. Sub-Saharan Africa suffers almost 25 percent of these losses, and is at the most immediate risk of droughts and floods. View the video news release about the report

The Weather Info for All project – a partnership between Ericsson, the World Meteorological Organization, the World Bank, mobile operator Zain, Orange and MTN and the Earth Institute – aims to roll out up to 5000 automatic weather observation stations throughout Africa. Reusing infrastructure at new and existing mobile network sites, the stations will dramatically improve information crucial to predicting and coping with climate shifts. The initiative also seeks to distribute weather information by mobile phone.

Initial deployment focused on the area around Lake Victoria in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The first 19 stations established there doubled the region's weather-monitoring capacity and more will be added.

Better weather information will assist national meteorological services to make more accurate forecasts. The use of mobile phones to distribute information can help with storm warnings and disaster prevention, but also enhance economic opportunities for tens of millions of people, with relevant information provided for fisheries, agriculture and small business development.

While the lack of weather information is starkest in Africa, the initiative is well suited to expansion to other regions.