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Climate prediction system to help developing economies prepare for disaster

APEC Secretariat Singapore | 10 March 2009
Singapore, 11 March 2009 - Forecasters, disaster planners and researchers can now create customised climate predictions, anywhere on earth. The online Climate Information Tool Kit, known as CLIK and available at http://clik.apcc21.net, was created to assist developing economies detect, prepare for and reduce the impact of harmful weather and climate conditions.

Modern technology allows established economies to predict future weather and climate patterns by feeding internal and external data into model equations. However, these calculations are seldom shared. This means that, until now, economies lacking in technical infrastructure have been unable to access the information they need to prepare for and reduce the impact of natural disasters.

Departing from past norms, climate centres throughout the APEC region have made their own calculations available for use, free of charge, anywhere in the world.

To further expand the reach of this resource, CLIK employs user-friendly online technology (Ruby), enabling users to create a customised prediction for any selected region. This technology has already been awarded the Fukuoka Ruby Award, Grand Prix for its technical merit and potential contribution to society.

CLIK is the result of a collaborative accord reached during the APEC Climate Symposium in 2007 and is implemented through the APEC Climate Centre (APCC) in Korea. The APCC produces real-time operational climate prediction information based on a multi-model multi-institute ensemble (MME) system. It is currently the largest prediction system in the world.

The APCC aims to achieve the APEC vision of regional prosperity through the reduction of economic losses due to abnormal climate.