Focus areas
Focus areas
Within its mandate in the areas of weather, climate and water, WMO focuses on many different aspects and issues from observations, information exchange and research to weather forecasts and early warnings, from capacity development and monitoring of greenhouse gases to application services and much, much more.
Natural hazards and disaster risk reduction
Natural hazards are severe and extreme weather and climate events that occur in all parts of the world, although some regions are more vulnerable to certain hazards than others. Natural hazards become disasters when people’s lives and livelihoods are destroyed.
Environment
All life depends on a healthy planet, but the interwoven systems of atmosphere, oceans, watercourses, land, ice cover and biosphere, which form the natural environment, are threatened by human activities. The Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) programme provides reliable scientific data and information on aerosols, greenhouse gases, selected reactive gases, ozone, ultraviolet radiation and precipitation chemistry (or atmospheric deposition).
Cryosphere
The cryosphere is the part of the Earth‘s climate system that includes solid precipitation, snow, sea ice, lake and river ice, icebergs, glaciers and ice caps, ice sheets, ice shelves, permafrost, and seasonally frozen ground. The term “cryosphere” traces its origins to the Greek word ‘kryos’ for frost or ice cold.
Oceans
When it comes to the weather and climate, most of us think only about what is happening in the atmosphere. If we ignore the ocean, however, we miss a big piece of the picture: covering some 70% of the Earth’s surface, the ocean is a major driver of the world’s weather and climate.
Energy
Energy systems are the engine of economic and social development. Energy is essential to practically all aspects of human welfare – access to water, agricultural productivity, health care, education, job creation, environmental sustainability and more. Energy investments represent a sizeable portion of Gross Domestic Product but, at the same time, energy sector emissions account for the largest share of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.
Public health
Human health and the wellbeing of individuals and communities are closely linked with weather and climate conditions. Through its Members, WMO provides weather and climate services to the public health community. Furthermore, in 2014, WMO partnered with the World Health Organization (WHO) to establish a unique Joint Office for Climate and Health, located at the WMO.
Urban Cross-cutting Focus
Some 3.5 billion people reside in urban areas. This number is projected to reach 6.3 billion by 2050, increasing from 50% to more than 70% of the world’s population. Cities are centres of creativity and economic progress but they also face many environmental challenges due mainly to air pollution and weather, climate and water-related hazard.
