A high level disaster resilience forum in Suva this week will have added importance as concerns grow over the potential impact on the region of this year’s El Niño.
PACNEWS reports that the head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR),Margareta Wahlström, will join hundreds of policymakers, partners and various experts for the Pacific Regional Disaster Resilience Meeting ahead of what could be a season of severe drought and cyclones.
A report from the Pacific Disaster Center says a strong El Niño is currently in place with wide and varying impacts across the Pacific Islands region.
El Niño is likely to be at its maximum strength towards the end of 2015, but will remain in place into the first half of 2016.
The report issued at the first Pacific Island Climate Outlook Forum held earlier this month at the University of the South Pacific warns that the risk of a typhoon in the western and central north Pacific is above normal for the rest of the year, while in the southwest Pacific tropical cyclone activity is expected to be above normal for the 2015-2016 season.
