Ecobreves – MEXICO:: Unpredictable Climate

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

MEXICO CITY, Jul 14 2002 (IPS) - Weather reports in Mexico are based on technology that dates back 15 years, which makes reliable forecasts, which are essential to farmers, impossible. The country's meteorological stations have only one person to collect the data, which ends up in card catalogues after passing through outdated telegraph and mail systems, said researcher Norma Sánchez at the Autonomous Metropolitan University of Mexico. Since 1985, the number of weather stations in the country has shrunk from 1,700 to 400, and the data processing methods have not been modernized, she pointed out.

The lack of up-to-date data and modern forecasting systems is considered a major problem, since 77 percent of farmland in Mexico is not irrigated and depends exclusively on rain.