Meteorology: a global issue on the global stage

Paterson

Like the ripples on the surface of a lake, the weather we experience each day is a combination of many waves originating from far and wide. Some are driven by slowly evolving disturbances, like the El Niño Southern Oscillation; others, like Rossby waves, shape the day-to-day kinks of the jet stream, steering and modulating high and low pressure systems. Accurately forecasting next week’s weather and water resources requires consistent global cooperation to monitor and model these factors so we can predict the future state of the lake’s ripples.

As such, international cooperation at a global scale has been a key part of meteorology and hydrology for over 150 years, with the creation of the International Meteorological Organization (IMO) in 1873. The IMO evolved into the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1950, and became the United Nations’ specialized agency for weather, climate and water in 1951. It has a membership of 193 Member States and Territories represented by the Directors of each country’s National Meteorological and Hydrological Service (NMHS). WMO, headquartered in Geneva, is the home of international cooperation on meteorological and hydrological science, standards, data exchange, services and NMHS development. The United Nations (UN), headquartered in New York, is the home of international cooperation more generally on a political level – on social, cultural, humanitarian, development, security and economic affairs. Many of these global issues have a weather, climate or water connection, and that is why WMO has a small UN Affairs office at UNHQ in New York.

Our role is to represent the scientific and technical work and priorities of WMO Members in the discourse at UNHQ. Our job is to be an authoritative voice and to show how weather, climate and water science and services can provide solutions to the global problems being discussed. So, what kind of global problems are discussed at the UN and how does the WMO help to address them?

Humanitarian crises are regularly discussed as part of the UN’s Economic and Social Council, including the current drought crisis in East Africa caused by four consecutive failed rainy seasons. Seasonal and medium range forecasts from national weather agencies can be used to warn the international community so they can prepare for such disasters. With adequate warning, humanitarians can trigger forecast-based financing, allowing food, water and droughtresistant seeds to be distributed long before the rains fail. This helps affected communities to better manage risks and minimize losses.

Questions of sustainable development are also agreed at UNHQ, like deciding how countries should collaborate to help cities to meet future demands from urbanization, growing populations, rising inequalities, environmental degradation and climate change, whilst harnessing benefits from scientific and technological advances. In these talks, WMO promotes greater collaboration on globally connected urban air quality observing networks to help monitor and manage air pollution. We also highlight connections with urban data strategies so emerging data collection methods, like citizen science and mobile phone data extraction, can be used to inform urbanscale weather or flood warning services.

In March 2023, the UN in New York will host a global UN Water Conference – the first of its kind in over 45 years –where governments will come together to agree actions to achieve access to safe water and sanitation for all. WMO is working to make sure conference outcomes include a commitment on the international exchange of hydrological data, in interoperable formats, to enable improved flood and drought forecasting so all countries can better manage their water resources.

The UN in New York is also the home of the UN Secretariat, including the Secretary-General (SG), António Guterres.

The WMO office supports the SG’s Climate Action Team and speechwriting unit with the latest evidence on how our climate is changing, to support the SG’s calls to world leaders to take urgent climate action.

Indeed, the close relationship between the WMO and UN SG’s offices laid the basis of Mr Guterres’ March 2022 announcement of a global goal to ensure every person on Earth is protected by early warning systems within five years. This call has led to an acceleration of commitments from countries to further enhance meteorological and hydrological early warning services to achieve global coverage by 2027, helping society to prepare and adapt for severe weather and climate shocks.

In conclusion, the meteorological and hydrological community provide vital support for international agreements on climate action, water, disaster risk reduction, food security and sustainable development. This is needed now more than ever before in view of the wide range of challenges we confront.

The global issues discussed at the UN in New York are wide and formidable. Through our small WMO New York team, we aim to ensure the voices of the weather, climate and water communities are part of those conversations, and provide reliable and scientific-based solutions to help tackle the world’s problems.