‘Confidence in local weather forecasts lower in India than US’
New Delhi, Dec 12 (IANS) People in India are nearly twice as likely than those in the US to state that they are not confident about their local weather forecast, an IBM study said on Thursday.
The results revealed that 72 per cent Indians believe that the local economy has been disrupted by a severe weather event in the past year.
Additionally, 89 per cent of Indians expressed concern that climate change could have a negative impact on the economy, said the study by IBM and its subsidiary The Weather Company which last month announced the global roll out of a new supercomputer-driven weather forecasting system.
Known as IBM GRAF, the new Global High-Resolution Atmospheric Forecasting system helps the region prepare for and respond to climate change, the company said.
“As weather conditions become increasingly more severe across the globe, it’s crucial that businesses across India have access to timely and accurate weather data to help stay prepared,” Cameron Clayton, General Manager, IBM Watson Media and Weather, said in a statement.
“The launch of IBM GRAF is an inflection point in forecasting science, where technology democratises weather data for the good of society. Enhanced global forecasts are revolutionary in areas of the world like India, where we are committed to delivering improved weather insights to businesses and consumers to help save time, money and lives,” Clayton said.
IBM GRAF runs on an IBM Power Systems supercomputer and can predict conditions up to 12 hours in advance with detail and frequency previously unavailable at this global scale.
The system is designed to provide much finer-grained predictions of the atmosphere and update its forecasts six to 12 times more frequently than conventional global modelling systems.
In India, current global weather models cover 9-13 kilometres and are updated every six hours. By contrast, IBM GRAF forecasts down to 3 kilometres and is updated hourly, The Weather Company said.
This poll was conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of IBM from October 29-November 4, among a national sample of 4,816 adults in India and the US.
