World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency within the United Nations dedicated to meteorology, or the study of weather and climate. It focuses on international cooperation and coordination, facilitating and promoting a number of initiatives globally. Among other things, it established an Earth System Observation Network and data management centers and telecommunications systems that provide and exchange weather, climate, and water-related data.

Background

The WMO started in Vienna, Austria, as the International Meteorological Association (IMO) in 1873. This non-governmental organization served the cause of international meteorology since 1950. One of the projects led by this organization was the installation and observation of weather stations around the North Pole in 1932 and 1933. This project showcased how polar observations could improve forecasts in other areas.

The IMO became the WMO through the United Nations (UN) on March 23, 1950. By 1963, the WMO launched the World Weather Watch Program, which included weather satellites. World Data Centers held a variety of information about glaciers, solar activity, radiation, auroras, geomagnetism, the ozone layer, and oceanography—this data had never been officially collected previously. The organization released its first statement on climate change in 1979. Along with the UN, the WMO helped to establish the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988. The IPCC is the UN’s body that assesses the science related to climate change. Along with former US Vice President and environmentalist Al Gore, the IPCC was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for its efforts to build and disseminate greater knowledge about human-made climate change.

WMO had 193 member states and territories in the mid-2020s. The Secretariat is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and is headed by the Secretary-General. Its supreme body is the World Meteorological Congress. The organization also coordinates the use of weather and climate data collected by more than thirty weather satellites and 200 research satellites; 10,000 surface weather stations; 1,000 upper air stations; 7,000 reporting ships; 1,100 reporting buoys; and 3,000 commercial aircraft. Each of these take daily observations. Drones take readings of storms that are too dangerous for humans to investigate. The WMO has specialized programs of study, including the Agricultural Meteorology Programme, which helps provide weather and climate services to farmers, herders, and fishermen; the Associated Programme on Flood Management; the Disaster Risk Reduction Programme; the Global Atmosphere Watch Programme; and the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP).

The UN and WMO began observing World Meteorological Day on March 23, 1961. Each year after, the organization chose a different theme for the event. In 2022, that theme was “Early Warning and Early Action,” with a focus on disaster risk. In 2023, the theme was “The Future of Weather, Climate, and Water across Generations,” in 2024, "At the Frontline of Climate Action," and in 2025, “Closing the Early Warning Gap Together.” The organization also holds multiple events, meetings, workshops, and an annual congress, including the Aeronautical Meteorology Scientific Conference and Expert Team on WIS Operations meetings.

Overview

The WMO continuously releases information, reports, and press releases from its studies on climate and weather. In the 2020s, the organization focused its efforts on the uptick in record temperatures across the globe and other climate change concerns. WMO added a new Arctic record temperature of 38 Celsius (C) (100.4 Fahrenheit [F]) to its international Archive of Weather and Climate Extremes on June 20, 2020, in Verkhoyansk, Russia. The organization stated that this weather observation was one of a series of observations by WMO that sounded an alarm about the changing climate. The organization was simultaneously verifying temperature readings of 54.4 C (130 F) in Death Valley, California, and other record highs. The organization stated that the WMO Archive of Weather and Climate Extremes had never had so many ongoing simultaneous investigations.

In April 2020, the organization made predictions about the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on global carbon emissions, saying it would drive the biggest drop in greenhouse gasses since World War II (1939–1945). However, the organization also warned that it would likely be followed by higher emissions growth after the pandemic. In a statement, WMO urged governments to consider stimulus packages that would help nations transition to green economies. Beginning in 2022, the International Monetary Fund confirmed that total global emissions had climbed to record levels that were significantly above pre-pandemic levels. This increase continued through the mid-2020s.

Also in 2020, the WMO announced that the impacts of climate change were peaking, with the previous five years being the hottest ever recorded. The organization expected the trend to continue with a new global mean temperature. The WMO's then-Secretary-General Petteri Taalas (Secretary-General from 2016-2023) said the world needed to dedicate itself with the same determination and unity against climate change as it used against COVID-19.

In 2021, the WMO announced plans to improve forecasts through a data overhaul project involving three main initiatives—the WMO Unified Data Policy, the Global Basic Observing Network, and the Systematic Observations Financing Facility. The plans looked to fill what the WMO called severe gaps in global data sharing, which diminished the accuracy of forecasts at a time when they were needed to track extreme weather events linked to climate change. The WMO specifically called out severe data gaps in Africa and island states, saying these gaps caused major negative impacts on the accuracy of early warnings. Part of the problem, the organization said, was outdated equipment.

On April 6, 2023, WMO announced it was the second joint warmest March on record and that Antarctic sea ice was the second lowest on record. As climate change continually altered weather patterns worldwide, the WMO increasingly monitored and documented abnormalities, record temperatures, and unprecedented precipitation events. The organization closely monitored the shifting of La Niña to El Niño conditions from November 2023 to January 2024, a period considered the strongest El Niño event ever recorded, and the shift’s impact on global weather. To document these types of events, the EMO issued updated guidance in 2023 for reporting and verifying extreme weather conditions and record temperatures.

On April 3, 2023, the organization stated its support for transitioning to renewable energy, with a goal of reaching net zero (zero carbon emissions) by 2050. According to a press release from the organization, this would require greater investment in tailored weather and climate information and forecasts to support the transition from fossil fuels.

The WMO is also responsible for monitoring and naming tropical storms. The organization uses a rotating list of names that get repeated every six years. In April 2023, it announced the retirement of the names Ian and Fiona, both of which became deadly Category 4 storms that hit Florida, Cuba, and Bermuda. Later, the WMO announced the storm names Ian and Fiona would be replaced with the names Idris and Farrah. The organization retired the storm name Otis after the Category 5 hurricane devastated the region near Acapulco, Mexico in October 2023. Because weather was a significant contributing factor in the devastating August 2023 wildfires in Maui, Hawaii, the name Dora was retired in 2024.

Bibliography

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