Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW)

Management

The GAW programme is carried out within the Environment Division (ENV) of the Atmospheric Research and Environment Programme (AREP) of WMO. A central function of GAW is to serve as the global long-term network for monitoring the composition of the atmosphere providing high quality observations for the scientific community, governments and international organizations, and scientific assessments that are needed for formulating environment protection policies and their implementation. Lending support to the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), network observations are openly available in the GAW World Data Centres and aid in our understanding of changes in stratospheric ozone, greenhouse warming, and air quality on both regional and global scales. For more than a decade the GAW programme has added to our understanding of the impact of atmospheric chemistry on climate change and aided in the evaluation of the influence of atmospheric chemistry on the environment.

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