Better weather warnings can save 23,000 lives: UN

An estimated 23,000 lives a year could be saved through improving weather forecasts, early warning systems and climate information, the United Nations said yesterday. 

Investment in multi-hazard early warning programmes could create potential annual benefits worth at least $162 billion -- 10 times the cost, the UN's World Meteorological Organization said.

The first biennial Hydromet Gap Report, which looks at solutions for effective climate action and sustainable development, said only 40 percent of countries currently had effective warning systems.