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Environmental and Societal Impacts Group (ESIG) |
Specifically, this project assesses the use of ENSO information during the 1991-92 southern African drought. In late 1991 and 1992, southern Africa was hit by what many called the worst drought of the century. Famine was averted, although at a substantial cost to national, regional, and international governments and institutions. There are conflicting reports about when ENSO information was available in the southern African region.
This research seeks to determine whether and how responses to the drought were influenced by ENSO information and how those responses might have been different, had information been available earlier. We propose that the response to the drought could have been more timely and therefore more efficient and less costly. This project is funded by NOAA's Office of Global Programs.
Betsill reviewed the literature on the 1991-92 drought and compiled a chronology of national and international responses to the drought situation. Wolde-Georgis researched general food security issues in southern Africa and assessed the state of regional and national early warning systems.
Vulnerability to Hurricanes Along the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts: Considerations on the Use of Long-Term Forecasts. Roger Pielke Jr. and Roger A. Pielke Sr. (Colorado State University) collaborated on an investigation to clarify vulnerability to hurricanes along the U.S. East and Gulf coasts and to provide guidance as to how long-term (i.e., interannual to decadal) forecasts of hurricane activity might contribute to reduced vulnerability.
The paper is targeted at both users (actual and potential) and producers of hurricane information. Forecasts of hurricane incidence are a component of broader political and social processes. Recognition of the context of forecasts is central to their utilization for societal benefits. The paper discusses the context of long-term (interannual to decadal) forecasts and also the opportunities for and limitations on their use. The paper was an invited presentation at a NOAA-sponsored workshop at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida.
Serving Science and Society: Lessons from Large-Scale Atmospheric Science Programs. Pielke Jr. and Glantz collaborated on the preparation of an article on issues related to the marketing of scientific research. A publication is scheduled to appear in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society during FY96.
In 1975, then-President of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) David Atlas, published an editorial in the AMS Bulletin entitled "Selling Atmospheric Science." The essay discussed the difficulties of convincing policy-makers of the worth of atmospheric science research. Twenty years later, many of Atlas' observations remain relevant to the relationship of the atmospheric sciences and their public and political patrons. It seems that a mismatch exists between the value that scientists ascribe to their research and the value placed on it by many in the public and in policy-making communities. One aspect of this mismatch is the way in which scientists market their research products to their sponsor and user communities-in short, the selling of science.
This paper sought to explore the selling of science through an assessment of the marketing of three large-scale programs in the atmospheric sciences: weather modification in the 1960s and 1970s, the USGCRP, and the USWRP. The assessment found that much of the support for these programs is a result of successful marketing; likewise, some of the absence of support for these programs can be attributed to shortfalls in the marketing process of each program. The idea of selling science is more broadly relevant to efforts to develop usable science for societal ends and also to the changing environment of U.S. science policy.
ASR 1995 Home Page
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