The ‘World Meteorological Day 2018’ will be observed in the country as elsewhere in the world on Friday with this year’s theme ‘Weather-ready, climate-smart’.
President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued separate messages marking the day and wished it a grand success. “The need for international cooperation in meteorology and related areas has long been recognised by scientists because the atmosphere has neither political nor geographical boundaries,” President Hamid said. He said the prediction of weather and climate for any part of the globe depends intrinsically
on access to information from other parts. The current worldwide concern over global weather and climate issues has increased public awareness of the need for international cooperation.
President Hamid said Bangladesh continues to participate actively in international bodies and formal frameworks, in particular the WMO. “I believe that the theme of the World Meteorological Day 2018, Weather-ready, climate-smart’ highlights the enormous importance of early warning systems and climate services,” he said. Hamid went on saying, “Urbanisation and the spread of mega cities mean that more of us are exposed and vulnerable. Now we need to be weather-ready, climate-smart and water-wise. “I hope that latest meteorology and ICT technologies will surely enhance effective warning system and reduce the losses of lives and properties from natural disasters.” In her message, the Prime Minister said the United Nations’ SDG 13encourages taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. “In this context, science-based climate information and future scenario generation, seasonal forecasting and short range forecasting and their timely delivery to the end users are very important,” she said. The Prime Minister said the government has recently approved the ‘Bangladesh regional weather and climate services’ project aiming to improve the delivery of weather and climate services to local communities, especially farmers, and strengthen the national economy.
“I hope the modernisation of weather services and continuous development of an effective early warning system will help us reduce the losses of lives and property from natural disasters,” she said.
The ever-growing global population faces a wide range of hazards such as tropical cyclone storm surges, heavy rains, heat waves, droughts and many more, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
