World Meteorological Day 2022 : Theme
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 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.
Theme for 2022:
- 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.
- India: 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.