World meteorological day is celebrated all across the world by the member states meteorological organizations every year on 23rd of 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 of 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 2019
World Meteorological Day 2019 was celebrated all over the world on Saturday, 23rd of March.
World Meteorological Day 2019 theme was “The Sun, the Earth and the Weather”.
The day majorly focused on the importance of Sun and how it helps to sustain life on earth, changes the weather, hydrological cycle and ocean currents. The day was celebrated by various activities conducted across the globe.
The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) headquarters at Geneva held a discussion on the occasion in which various dignitaries, environmentalist and scientist took part and discussed the challenges of climate change. Facilitation of awards was also done on the day for the people who contributed to public safety during natural calamities.
There were seminars, discussions and talks which highlighted the importance of meteorology and how it had helped to forecast the natural calamities and saved the life of people around the world.
History of World Meteorological Day
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.
Why World Meteorological Day 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 hydrological, 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.
How World Meteorological Day 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 evolutions 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 Themes
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1961 was “Meteorology – general themes”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1962 was “Contribution of meteorology to agriculture and food production”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1963 was “Transport and meteorology (in particular, application of meteorology to aviation)”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1964 was “Meteorology as a factor of economic development”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1965 was “International cooperation in meteorology”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1966 was “World Weather Watch”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1967 was “Weather and water”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1968 was “Meteorology and agriculture”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1969 was “The economic value of meteorological services”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1970 was “Meteorological education and training”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1971 was “Meteorology and human environment”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1972 was “Meteorology and human environment”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1973 was “One hundred years of international cooperation in meteorology”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1974 was “Meteorology and tourism”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1975 was “Meteorology and telecommunications”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1976 was “Weather and food”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1977 was “Weather and water”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1978 was “Meteorology and research for the future”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1979 was “Meteorology and energy”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1980 was “Man and climatic variability”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1981 was “World Weather Watch as a tool for development”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1982 was “Observing the weather from space”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1983 was “The weather observer”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1984 was “Meteorology aids food production”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1985 was “Meteorology and public safety”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1986 was “Climate variations, drought and desertification”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1987 was “Meteorology: a model of international cooperation”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1988 was “Meteorology and the media”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1989 was “Meteorology in the service of aviation”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1990 was “Natural disaster reduction: how meteorological and hydrological services can help”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1991 was “The atmosphere of the living planet Earth”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1992 was “Weather and climate services for sustainable development”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1993 was “Meteorology and the transfer of technology”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1994 was “Observing the weather and climate”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1995 was “Public weather services”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1996 was “Meteorology in the service of sports”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1997 was “Weather and water in cities”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1998 was “Weather, oceans and human activity”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 1999 was “Weather, climate and health”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 2000 “The World Meteorological Organization – 50 years of service”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 2001 was “Volunteers for weather, climate and water”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 2002 was “Reducing Vulnerability to Weather and Climate Extremes”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 2003 was “Our future climate”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 2004 was “Weather, climate, water in the information age”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 2005 was “Weather, climate, water and sustainable development”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 2006 was “Preventing and mitigating natural disasters”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 2007 was “Polar meteorology: Understanding global impacts”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 2008 was “Observing our planet for a better future”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 2009 was “Weather, climate and the air we breathe”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 2010 was “60 years of service for your safety and well-being”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 2011 was “Climate for You”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 2012 was “Powering our Future with Weather, Climate and Water”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 2013 was “Watching the weather to protect life and property”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 2014 was “Weather and Climate: Engaging Youth”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 2015 was “Climate Knowledge for Climate Action”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 2016 was “Hotter, drier, wetter. Face the Future”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 2017 was “Understanding Clouds”.
> The theme of the world meteorological day celebration 2018 was “Weather-Ready, Climate-Smart”.
> The theme of 2019 was “The Sun, the Earth and the Weather”.
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