The World Meteorological Day will be observed here in Bangladesh and elsewhere across the world today (Monday), commemorating the emergence of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) as a specialized agency of the United Nations.
The WMO and its 193 member states and territories, including Bangladesh, observe this day on March 23 every year amid holding of different programme. This year, the theme of World Meteorological Day is “Climate and Water”.
President M Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today issued separate messages on the occasion of the World Meteorological Day. In his message, the President said due to climate change, the mutual co-operation in the international arena, especially the exchange of information on weather and climate amongst the nations, become vital.
“This co-operation, formulation of national policy, creating awareness and getting clear concept on weather pattern would be possible to mitigate the risks of climate change as well as to face natural disasters,” he observed. The President said the weather and climate forecasts of any part of the world depend on the weather and climate data available for that region.
He said in addition to cyclones, heavy rainfall, floods, water logging, salinity, heat fluxes and other natural disasters, the scarcity of drinking water is causing sever global problem. The increasing urbanization has made our position more vulnerable to disaster, he added. Referring to diverse weather in Bangladesh, President Hamid said weather pattern is inextricably linked with the production of different kinds of fruits and crops.
President hoped that the BMD would be able to disseminate weather and climate related services to the grassroots, especially to the farmers, in a timely and befitting manner. He welcomed the initiative of observing “World Meteorological Day 2020” in Bangladesh as elsewhere in the world.
In her message, the prime minister said Bangladesh has achieved resilience against climate change and its adverse effects with the use of modern technologies which have been providing more dependable weather and climate forecast.
To make people aware of various disasters regularly ‘BMD-Apps’ has been launched, she said, adding that the country’s meteorological department by using the developed technologies has been providing ten days advanced weather forecast to the agriculture sectors, contributing more to the national economy.
The BMD, Sheikh Hasina said, has achieved successes determining the track and intensity of the cyclone through High Performance Computer (HPC) to run meteorological model for analyzing the data and through satellite.
“Thus, casualties and loss of resources during natural disasters have been reduced to one digit because of developing awareness among the people. Bangladesh has already achieved appreciation internationally by providing the most effective early warning system for tropical cyclones,” she added.
The premier wished the ‘World Meteorological Day-2020’ a grand success. Meanwhile, different programmes have been taken to observe the day at BMD headquarters in the city and at the divisional offices along with its significant branch offices across the country.
