Dr Anthony Anuforom, the Director-General of NIMET, stated this in Abuja on Wednesday at a news conference on the ``Recent Flooding in the Country-Proactive Measures’’.
He said that the weather induced disasters constituted about 70 per cent of natural disasters globally, adding that part of the precautions against weather and climate related disasters was for people to use NIMET information regularly.
Anuforom said that government had been putting response measures in place to ameliorate the hardship resulting from flooding across the country.
He, however, called on individuals and government agencies to make regular use of the annual Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) bulletin and regular weather and climate information issued by the agency as guide.
``I will like to state that what we are experiencing in Nigeria is part of the global challenges of increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events due to climate change as predicted by the WMO.
``Scientists have predicted that the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events are likely to increase due to climate change.
``This underscores the need for the application of early warning weather and climate information provided by NIMET in planning and decision-making,’’ Anuforom said.
The director-general also said that the agency had warned state governments and the people living in the areas vulnerable to flood to take precautions before the occurrence, adding that some ignored the advice.
``NIMET had predicted that different parts of the country that were likely to experience flooding well ahead of the occurrence of these flooding.
``Extreme weather event such as the recent flooding in the country has continued to pose significant threat to achieving our national goals in agriculture, road construction, housing, health, conservation of environment, among others.
``In spite of NIMET’s efforts in recent years to create the necessary awareness, the level of application of NIMET’s early warning weather and climate information in the economic sector in Nigeria is low,'' he said
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