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A Publ A Publication of NCAR's Societal impacts Program Volume 2, Number 4, July 30, 2008 Weather and Traf• c: Integrating the Right Information by Paul Pisano* Where do you think most deaths car radio? And those of you on the have to function as your own occur when the weather gets bad? leading edge of technology can now geographic information system (GIS) become even more overwhelmed to overlay that weather forecast onto A. At home with weather and traf! c information B. At work or school via your cell phone, navigation (continued on page 11) C. Outside (e.g., gol! ng) device or satellite radio. So upon D. In your car further exploration, we ! nd that the E. In an airplane problem isn’t a lack of information. ) Instead, it’s the result of either too If you chose D, in your car, you were much information being presented right. In fact, it’s not even close. in the wrong way, or a glaring lack of Approximately 7,400 lives are lost on the “right” information. the nation’s roadways under adverse weather conditions each year. What do I mean by the “right” Compare this to the 167 weather- information? Road users and related aviation fatalities, and the transportation system managers 573 weather-related fatalities that don’t need a weather forecast; they occur elsewhere every year [1], and need transportation information, you can see that we’ve got a real but not just any transportation problem on our hands. information. They need dynamic, integrated information about the The problem isn’t just the 7,400 current and future state of the people who die each year in highway system. Approximately 7,400 roadway fatalities weather-related vehicle crashes. each year are weather related. It’s also that this statistic is some Again, that’s not a weather forecast, (Photo courtesy of the Federal Highway sort of best-kept secret. Why isn’t it fancy radar loop or the current Administration) common knowledge that almost one- temperature at the nearest airport quarter of all roadway crashes— or school. It’s not even dynamic In This Issue including fatalities, injuries, and routing on your in-vehicle navigation property damage averaging more system— arguably such bits of Pets and Disaster Preparedness 2 than 1.5 million per year from information treat each vehicle as a discreet object and miss the fact 1995 to 2005 [2]— occur during Perspective on Social Science 3 adverse weather and could be at that improving mobility and safety least partially prevented with more requires a system view that accounts From the Director 4 targeted research efforts? for interactions between vehicles. It’s road-related content from a Finding the Right Grad School 5 But while this fact may not be in the system wide perspective based on front of everyone’s mind, there must very-high-resolution forecasts both W eather Channel Book Review 6 be some implicit awareness. How above and at the road surface. Jobs & Opportunities 7 else can we explain the deluge of weather and traf! c information that You can’t get that when you separate Conferences & Opportunities 12 Where do you think most deaths the weather forecast from the traf! c occurs every time you tune in to report. Instead, you get two pieces of About/Contact Us 16 the news on your television set or critical information, and you 1 Paws and Click: Disaster Preparedness Information on Animal Welfare Web Sites by Kathleen Sherman-Morris* Hurricane Katrina and its afterm ath have forever changed this nation’s thinking about the im portance of taking anim als into account during an em ergency. — Wayne Pacelle, Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) CEO and President (HSUS, 2006) Before Hurricane Katrina, few studies focused on caring for pets in the time leading up to or during disasters. In one of the few pre-Katrina studies of pet Figure 1. Locations mentioned in hazard articles posted on animal welfare Web sites evacuation during an emergency, (Map prepared by John Morris) Heath, Voeks, and Glickman (2001, p. 1904) recommended requires state and local emergency Once the three of us agreed on how that pet care facilities promote pet management plans to consider pet to conduct the analysis, and what evacuation as part of “responsible needs (Of• ce of the White House content to include, we examined pet ownership” and that pet care Press Secretary, 2006). the natural- and human-related providers become involved with the hazard content on the Web sites of emergency management process. This increase in awareness has also nine animal welfare organizations. Highly publicized problems with the led to a proliferation of information We agreed to record the article evacuation of people and their pets in newspapers, brochures, and topics, places mentioned, hazards during Katrina drew attention to this on the Web, although no one had discussed, links to other Web sites need, and clearly demonstrated attempted to quantify it. Along with and the placement and detail level of that the Stafford Disaster Relief and colleagues Andrea Schumacher disaster preparedness information. Emergency Assistance Act failed and Rebecca Jennings, who had We conducted this analysis during to adequately address it (Beaver et been working together on a project the winter of 2007–2008. al., 2006). regarding the response of pet care providers to a hazard, I saw this as Results Since Katrina, there has been an opportunity to determine what much progress, including a National information exists for pet owners All the organizations except one Animal Disaster Summit held in and pet care providers to use while had posted disaster preparedness Washington, D.C. in May, 2006 to making their emergency plans. information detailing what animal identify problems associated with Because much of this information owners or caretakers should do the animal relief effort; additional is sponsored by animal welfare to prepare for or respond to a research on the organizational organizations such as HSUS or the disaster. The depth and breadth relief effort (Irvine, 2006); and the American Society for the Prevention of the information varied. Disaster passage of the Pets Evacuation of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), preparedness information was and Transportation Standards these organizations became the (PETS) Act in October 2006. PETS subject of analysis. (continued on page 8) 2 A Perspective on the Importance of Social Science to the Nation’s Natural Disaster Warning System by Larry Mooney*, with Eve Gruntfest** This article summarizes be a logical approach because many the work of Benjamin McLuckie, they comments from Larry Mooney, had begun their meteorological learned that the warning response the meteorologist-in-charge (MIC) careers as military forecasters decision was not an immediate in the Boulder/Denver National in World War II or Korea. In their stimulus response process and Weather Service (NWS) of• ce. minds, the meteorological facts concluded that we needed to do During his four decades with were all that the user needed. These more to get people to respond the agency, Larry has taken on were some of the best forecasters to our warnings. To address this numerous assignments around the I ever worked with, but they did problem, the NWS hired McLuckie country. He speaks passionately not understand the scope and the from the University of Delaware to about how collaborations between impact of their forecasts. They had write “Warning, A Call to Action,” a meteorologists and social scientists little contact with their users and the training guide stating that the NWS over the years have resulted in dissemination of weather information has further obligations beyond • ndings bene• cial to the NWS (such was very limited compared to today’s just conveying hazardous weather as including warning coordination weather enterprise. information. The publication asserted meteorologists in each forecast that the agency needs to in" uence of• ce). This article was inspired by people and to offer intermediate Larry’s remarks at the October 2007 When I started with the statements and updates on storm meeting of the Central Region’s NWS as an intern in the progress. The content of current Meteorologists in Charge in Kansas early 1970s, the general warning products is still based on City, where he talked about how philosophy of warning McLuckie’s work. social science has informed and operations was that once improved the NWS not only in the Also in the early 1970s, a visionary a warning message was last 10 years but for the last 40 years at NWS Headquarters, Herb Lieb, or so. Eve Gruntfest • rst drafted the sent, your job was done. recognized the importance of piece after a long chat with Larry, greater involvement of NWS staff in who then crafted this article in his all phases of the warning process, own voice. This began to change when including response. A community the supervising meteorological preparedness specialist (CPS) technician at the Fort Worth of! ce position was established at most of In looking at Web chat and Web ventured outside of our weather the forecast of! ces to train spotters pages, it’s easy to get the impression world and took some journalism and raise public awareness. The that the collaborations between courses at a local university. He history of the duties and evolution meteorologists and social scientists immediately began to teach the of this position is contained an began with the Societal Impacts interns how to write in a different excellent publication by Doswell, Program (SIP) at NCAR or with style, one that was clear and more Moller, and Brooks. I was fortunate Weather and Society*Integrated focused on the users’ needs.

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