Seasonal climate forecasting and the relevance of local knowledge

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Scopus citations

Abstract

Seasonal climatic forecasting is one of the more promising experimental technologies now being developed to help mitigate the risks posed by climatic hazards for agricultural production in developing nations. However, numerous studies of traditional agricultural communities have shown that farmers already often manage climatic risk through traditional methods of climate prediction and ritual. This local knowledge may or may not accurately predict climatic events, but it characterizes the demand for climate information and indicates how new climate forecasts might be received. Based on ethnographic data, this paper describes traditional climate prediction methods of farmers in Tlaxcala, Mexico to illustrate the relevance of local climate knowledge for seasonal forecasting.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)447-460
Number of pages14
JournalPhysical Geography
Volume20
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 1999

Keywords

  • Climate forecasting, agriculture, local knowledge, Mexico.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Environmental Science
  • Atmospheric Science
  • Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)
  • General Earth and Planetary Sciences

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