World Meteorological Day - 23 March, Information, History, Themes

World Meteorological Day Information

World meteorological day is celebrated all across the world by the member states meteorological organizations every year on 23rd March. It is an annual event being commemorated yearly by the almost 191 meteorological organization members worldwide as well as the worldwide meteorological communities using a particular chosen theme of the year in order to commemorate the establishment of the World Meteorological Organization to keep constant watch on the weather and climate for the better life and future.

World Meteorological Day was started celebrating on 23rd March every year since 1961. It was the very first celebration of the World Meteorological Day in 1961 which commemorated its entry-into-force on 23rd of March in 1950 in the conference of World Meteorological Organization.

World Meteorological Day History

The World meteorological day was founded by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) which is an intergovernmental organization established for meteorology and having approximately the membership of 191 worldwide Member States as well as Territories. It was first founded and originated from the “International Meteorological Organization” which was established by the International Meteorological Congress at Vienna, Austria in the year 1873. Whereas, World Meteorological Organization was first established on 23rd of March in the year 1950 and had became the specialized meteorology agency of the United Nations to operate the weather and climate from one place as well as performing the operational hydrology including all the related geophysical sciences. The headquarters of the World Meteorological Organization is in the Geneva, Switzerland which is a member of the Development Group, United Nations.

The World Meteorological Organization has been established as a specialized agency in 1951 for meteorology to keep current details about the Earth’s atmosphere behavior, atmospheric interactions with the oceans, resulting climate and distribution of the water resources. According to the statistics of 2013, this organization includes around 191 member states and territories membership, the conference of which was held on 11th of October in 1947 and approved in the year 1950.

The policies of World Meteorological Organization are determined by the World Meteorological Congress in the meeting after every four years in the presence of every member country of WMO. The hierarchy of the system is; Permanent Representative becomes a director at National Meteorological or Hydro meteorological Service, Executive Council to apply the policies by Congress decisions, 6 regional associations in order to address the regional concerns, 8 technical commissions in order to handle technical recommendations, Secretary-General in order to lead the secretariat and manage the WMO activities with the help of regular staffs.

World Meteorological Day: Why it is Celebrated

The organization was established aiming establishing a big meteorological station networks contributing towards the safety and efficiency of the shipping services as well as safety and welfare of the people. It also offers very significant role towards the water resources safety, food security and transport.

A world level international cooperation is required for the continuous growth and development of the meteorology and operational hydrology research activities, as environment, weather, climate and water cycle are very natural resources which never consider any national or international boundaries. WMO is an international organization for the meteorology offering a best support for such international cooperation.

It has been playing very unique and commanding role in the field of meteorology which contributes to safety and well being of the humanity. Its leadership for organizing programs for National Meteorological and Hydrological Services provides a lot help by protecting life and property from the natural disasters. It safeguards earth’s environment and enhances the people’s economic and social well being through the security of food, water resources and transport.

An Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has been established by the WMO and United Nations Environment Programme to directly work for Global Atmosphere Watch. It has been awarded by the Nobel Peace Prize in the year 2007 for their big achievements for the man-made climate change. WMO involved in the research and training activities in the field of hydro-logical, meteorological, climatological and geophysical to offer safety to the people worldwide from the natural disasters as well as the human-induced disasters (like forest fire, chemical or nuclear accidents, volcanic ash and etc). Its leading role in making an international effort for closely monitoring and protecting the environmental disasters through its various launched programs is really amazing.

World Meteorological Day: How it is Celebrated

The World Meteorological Day is celebrated every year by organizing variety of programmes and activities. The World Meteorological Organization organizes Scientific and Technical Forum, to discuss an outline of all the past activities and achievements of the World Weather Watch (telecommunications and meteorological forecasts) as well as to implement its evolution in the next century, in the Geneva headquarters on 23rd of March to commemorate the World Meteorological Day.

Variety of events organized for the celebration of world meteorological day includes conferences, range of exhibitions for professionals of meteorology, symposium, debates on related topics and many more. Community leaders and general public also involves in the celebration. Award ceremony is organized to distribute the prizes (The International Meteorological Organization Prize, The Norbert Gerbier-Mumm International Award, Professor Dr. Vilho Vaisala Award, WMO Research Award for Young Scientists and etc) for special achievements related to the meteorological research.

World Meteorological Day Facebook Covers

Themes:

  • 1961: Meteorology – general themes
  • 1962: Contribution of meteorology to agriculture and food production
  • 1963: Transport and meteorology (in particular, application of meteorology to aviation)
  • 1964: Meteorology as a factor of economic development
  • 1965: International cooperation in meteorology
  • 1966: World Weather Watch
  • 1967: Weather and water
  • 1968: Meteorology and agriculture
  • 1969: The economic value of meteorological services
  • 1970: Meteorological education and training
  • 1971: Meteorology and human environment
  • 1972: Meteorology and human environment
  • 1973: One hundred years of international cooperation in meteorology
  • 1974: Meteorology and tourism
  • 1975: Meteorology and telecommunications
  • 1976: Weather and food
  • 1977: Weather and water
  • 1978: Meteorology and research for the future
  • 1979: Meteorology and energy
  • 1980: Man and climatic variability
  • 1981: World Weather Watch as a tool for development
  • 1982: Observing the weather from space
  • 1983: The weather observer
  • 1984: Meteorology aids food production
  • 1985: Meteorology and public safety
  • 1986: Climate variations, drought and desertification
  • 1987: Meteorology: a model of international cooperation
  • 1988: Meteorology and the media
  • 1989: Meteorology in the service of aviation
  • 1990: Natural disaster reduction: how meteorological and hydrological services can help

  • 1991: The atmosphere of the living planet Earth
  • 1992: Weather and climate services for sustainable development
  • 1993: Meteorology and the transfer of technology
  • 1994: Observing the weather and climate
  • 1995: Public weather services
  • 1996: Meteorology in the service of sports
  • 1997: Weather and water in cities
  • 1998: Weather, oceans and human activity
  • 1999: Weather, climate and health
  • 2000: The World Meteorological Organization – 50 years of service
  • 2001: Volunteers for weather, climate and water
  • 2002: Reducing Vulnerability to Weather and Climate Extremes
  • 2003: Our future climate
  • 2004: Weather, climate, water in the information age
  • 2005: Weather, climate, water and sustainable development
  • 2006: Preventing and mitigating natural disasters
  • 2007: Polar meteorology: Understanding global impacts
  • 2008: Observing our planet for a better future
  • 2009: Weather, climate and the air we breathe
  • 2010: 60 years of service for your safety and well-being
  • 2011: Climate for You
  • 2012: Powering our Future with Weather, Climate and Water
  • 2013: Watching the weather to protect life and property
  • 2014: Weather and Climate: Engaging Youth
  • 2015: Climate Knowledge for Climate Action
  • 2016: Hotter, drier, wetter. Face the Future
  • 2017: Understanding Clouds
  • 2018: Weather-Ready, Climate-Smart
  • 2019: The Sun, the Earth and the Weather
  • 2020: Climate and Water, which will align with the theme of World Water Day 2020, focusing on climate change and water
  • 2021: The ocean, our climate and weather
  • 2022: Early Warning and Early Action
  • 2023: The Future of Weather, Climate and Water across Generations

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