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- Every year, World Meteorological Day is celebrated globally on 23rd March.
- Earlier in October, 2021, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released the State of Climate Services report 2021.
- The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is an intergovernmental organization with a membership of 192 Member States and Territories.
- India is a member of WMO.
- It originated from the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), which was established after the 1873 Vienna International Meteorological Congress.
- Established by the ratification of the WMO Convention on 23rd March 1950, WMO became the specialized agency of the United Nations for meteorology (weather and climate), operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences.’
- WMO is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
Key Highlights of the World Meteorological Day
- The day is celebrated to commemorate the establishment of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which was created in 1950.
- Being celebrated since 1961, the day is also observed to make people aware of their role in protecting Earth’s atmosphere.
- Early warning and early action – it emphasises the critical necessity of hydrometeorological and climate information for disaster risk reduction.
- A disaster related to a weather, climate or water hazard occurred every day on average over the past 50 years – killing 115 people and causing USD 202 million in losses daily.
- According to the WMO Atlas of Mortality and Economic Losses from Weather, Climate and Water Extremes (1970 – 2019), there were more than 11, 000 reported disasters attributed to these hazards globally.
- The number of disasters has increased by a factor of five over the 50-year period, driven by climate change more extreme weather and improved reporting.
- The frequency and intensity of extreme weather events is set to rise due to more and more greenhouse gases being added to the atmosphere every year, resulting in warming.
- The number of severe cyclones over the Arabian Sea has risen by 1 per decade and maximum temperature has increased by 0.99 degree C since 1901 in India – small numbers that are big when it comes to weather.
- There is a significant rise in heavy rainfall events also over India.
Way Forward
- Greater coordination between national meteorological and hydrological services, disaster management authorities and development agencies are fundamental to better prevention, preparedness and response.
- There is a need to increase investment during the coming five years to improve the quality of the services and related infrastructures, especially in the LDC and SIDS countries.
SOURCE: THE HINDU,THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT
