DA seeks weather stations in farming, fishing areas

With extreme weather seen to strike the Philippines in the next decades, the Department of Agriculture (DA) wants the government to install automatic weather stations (AWS) all over the country to provide farmers and fishermen with up-to-date weather information.

Agriculture Undersecretary Segfredo Serrano said the government should invest in AWS to give Filipino farmers and fishermen a better fighting chance against severe weather conditions brought about by climate change.

Every agricultural town in the country should have its own AWS, especially now that variables such as rainfall and typhoon patterns had been altered due to climate change, he said.

“We need more intimate information in the field,” Serrano explained.

Serrano made the proposal as the country marks the opening of Climate Change Consciousness Week.

Ahead of the United Nations Climate Change talks in South Africa in a fortnight, climate scientists late last week said the world should brace for heavier rainfall, bitter droughts and stronger storms due to climate change.

In the Philippines, the effects of climate change have been felt for years.

In 2010, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said a study of climate data from 1960 to 2003 showed significant increases in the frequency of hot days and warm nights in many areas of the country.