World Meteorological Day 2022: Theme, history, significance
Meteorology is the science that deals with the study of atmosphere and its wide range of phenomena, especially related to weather and weather forecasting. To emphasise on the field of meteorology once every year, we observe World Meteorological Day on 23rd March.
The day is celebrated to mark the importance of earth’s atmosphere and how it is affects the behaviour of humans with one another. On this day, focus is mainly on the study and research of earth’s atmosphere and its behaviour at large. World Meteorological Day also emphasises on raising public awareness about the essential role of people in protecting the earth’s atmosphere.
Theme of World Meteorological Day 2022
The theme for this year’s World Meteorological Day is ‘Early Warning and Early Action.’ Like every year, the theme for 2022 is unique as well. It has been chosen to reflect on the weather and climate activities worldwide as well as water-related issues.
This year’s theme is a continuation of the last year’s, ‘Climate and Water.’ It is all part of World Meteorological Organisation’s effort to focus on global climate change and take valuable action to tackle the challenges surrounding them.
History behind World Meteorological Day
On 23rd March 1950, the World Meteorological Organisation Convention, an initiative taken by the United Nations, came into being. The following year, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) was established as UN’s specialised intergovernmental agency (with 193 UN member states) for meteorology, operational hydrology and related geographical sciences (weather, climate, water and environment). However, it was exactly a decade later, on 23rd March 1961, that the World Meteorological Day was introduced by WMO. Since then, the day has been widely commemorated all across the globe.
Significance of World Meteorological Day
World Meteorological Organisation plays a vital role in maintaining people’s safety and welfare through the extensive study of meteorological phenomena. In fact, the agency also operates to provide food security, water security and resources all around the globe. In this context, World Meteorological Day is widely celebrated worldwide to exhibit the important contributions of all international and national meteorological and hydrological services to the safety and wellbeing of the society. The day is also significant as it puts focus on globally acknowledging different issues of planet Earth and taking the right steps at the right time to address global climate challenges.