WMO Secretary-General StatementforWorld Meteorological Day, 2021“The Ocean: Our Climate and Weather”
World Meteorological Day in 2021 is devoted to the theme “the ocean, our climate and weather.” It
celebrates WMO’s focus in connecting the ocean, climate and weather within the Earth System.
Our changing climate is warming the ocean, having a profound effect on our weather. The WMO’s
annual State of the Global Climate report, shows that 2020 was one of the three warmest years on
record, despite La Nina cooling in the Pacific Ocean. The past decade from 2011-2020 was the warmest
on record.
Ocean heat is at record levels, ocean acidification is continuing. Sea ice is melting. The rate of sea level
rise has accelerated.
During the past year, we have seen prolonged droughts that extended fire seasons throughout the
world. Devastating wildfires in Australia, for example, were linked to ocean temperatures influencing
drier seasonal climate patterns.
Warm ocean temperatures helped fuel a record Atlantic hurricane season, and unusually intense
tropical cyclones in the Indian and South Pacific Oceans. The storm surge damage in these areas
demonstrated the power of the ocean and its devastating impact on coastal communities.
Non-tropical ocean storms continued to wreak havoc aboard ships, with additional losses of life and
cargo at sea.
In 2020, the annual Arctic sea ice minimum was among the lowest on record. Polar communities
suffered abnormal coastal flooding, and sea ice hazards as a result of melting ice.
In view of this, the WMO community has a major stake in supporting research, observations,
predictions, and services for the ocean as much for as the atmosphere, land, and cryosphere.
Major gaps in data over the ocean hinder our ability to accurately forecast weather at extended time
scales and, more so, sub-seasonal to seasonal. The WMO Data Conference in November 2020
recognized major gaps in data, particularly over the ocean. It highlighted the need for free and open
access to Earth system data, to maximize the overall economic impact of these data.
WMO has a large number of partnerships, including with the UNESCO’s Intergovernmental
Oceanographic Commission, to better understand, observe, and predict the ocean as part of our Earth
System.
With more than 40% of the global population living within 100km of the coast, there is an urgent need
to keep communities safe from the impacts of coastal hazards. WMO and its Members work to support
coastal management and resilience and strengthen Multi Hazard Early Warning Systems.
Nearly 90% of world trade is carried across the sea and is exposed to the dangers of extreme maritime
weather. WMO partners with the International Maritime Organization and the International
Hydrographic Organization to provide standardized information, forecasts and warnings to ensure the
safety of life and property at sea.
The coming Decade will be a critical one for addressing ways to adapt and mitigate to climate change
impacts. WMO is helping in this effort, as a designated Nominator for the Earth Shot Prize (2021 to
2030), seeking solutions for urgent environmental challenges, including the ocean and climate.
This year is also important for the WMO to mark the start of the United Nations Decade of Ocean
Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030). WMO is committed to contributing with much of its
work integral for the “safe ocean”, “predicted ocean” and “transparent ocean” goals of the Decade.
Together with partners, WMO is striving to strengthen the Earth System Science to services.
To understand our weather and climate, we must understand our ocean. We will continue working
towards this, to protect vulnerable communities and in support of the Sendai Framework for disaster
risk reduction, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Paris Climate Change
Agreement, and SAMOA Pathway.
WMO is leading several important global initiatives during the coming year to address priorities of our
members:
1. The importance of enhancing the global basic observing network and putting in place an innovative financing facility SOFF to ensure systematic weather and climate observations especially for
LDCs and SIDs
2. Secondly, we are creating a water and climate coalition for accelerating action on SDG 6, which
is related to water.
3. And thirdly, we would like to ensure enhance the multi hazard early warning system and services of all our Member Countries.
I wish you all a happy World Meteorological Day.
.
When it comes to the
Weather conditions
and Climate variation
, most of us think only about what is happening in the Atmospheric air pressure
. If we ignore the Ocean basin
, however, we miss a big piece of the picture.Thr CEREMONY will start at 1200 GMT with
World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
Secretary-General, Petteri Taalas UN Special UN-Oceans Envoy, Law of the sea convention
Peter Thomson (who narrated this video) UN Climate Change
Action envoy Selwyn Hart Director of Germany's Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
, Antje Boetius Climate Resilience/Youth Empowerment Advocate, Salvador Gómez-Colón Alexia Barrier, Yachtswoman , 2020–2021 Vendée Globe Rachel Moriarty, Head, Prize Design and Impact, Earthshot Prize
Ceremony
The ocean is the Earth’s thermostat and conveyor belt; It is hit hard by Climate change. Ocean heat, acidification, sea level rise threaten ecosystems and human and food security. World Meteorological Day highlights how observations, research and services are more critical than ever before for more than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface which is simultaneously increasingly vulnerable and perilous.
- How the ocean shapes weather and climate?
- Ensuring safety at sea and on land
- Observing the ocean
- Forecasting climate variability
- The ocean and climate change
- SDGs and other initiatives
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