Google Launches Severe Weather Public Alerts In Canada
The scientific world overwhelmingly agrees that we are entering an era where extreme weather will become increasingly intensified and more common, these being just two of the effects of global climate change. As a result of this it is becoming increasingly more important to know when, where and how hard extreme weather is going to hit us as soon as possible. Enter severe weather notifications on Google Public Alerts for Canada.
Straight from the mouth of Google Canada’s Blog:
“Today we’re launching official severe weather notifications for Canada in English and French on Google Public Alerts. Relevant severe weather alerts will now appear on the Google Public Alerts page, in Google Search and Google Maps on both desktop and mobile, and in Google Now.
Providing people with warnings and information before severe weather hits is critical to helping ensure safety. Google Public Alerts is a platform designed to provide accurate and relevant emergency alerts when and where you need them. An alert will appear on your desktop or mobile screens when you search for relevant keywords such as flood or with location-based queries like Toronto. On Android devices running Google Now, alerts will appear automatically on Cards.”
Now I don’t know about you but there are two things I am certain about myself; A) I do not have the training nor the equipment to predict weather patterns and rely on outside sources for my daily, weekly or seasonal weather information and B) Other than needing to know how many layers I am going to need to put on, whether or not my car will suffice in getting me to work, or if I should start cursing myself for never putting together that emergency kit I always said I would make, I do not need or want to spend my day thinking about the weather.
Public Alerts will provide an important service in reaching the most people possible in severe weather situations because chances are there are a lot of people not listening to the radio or watching TV when severe weather occurs.You can see the original blog post here, more information and all active alerts here and also instructions on the service here.