WMO activities

A round-up of recent WMO activities in a variety of fields >> More

El Niño/La Niña Update

La Niña conditions prevailed through May 2008, but the event gradually weakened from its peak strength in February. The recent weeks have seen a more rapid decay, indicating a possible conclusion to the event. Even if some aspects of La Niña continue over the next few weeks, near neutral conditions are considered the most likely outcome for the middle part of the year and shortly thereafter. >> More

WMO Executive Council—major outcomes of the 60th session

The session was the first session of the 15th financial period (2008-2011). The Council worked on the basis of directives of Fifteenth World Meteorological Congress on the Organization’s goals and activities, particularly through the WMO Strategic Plan, the WMO Secretariat Operating Plan, and the WMO results-based budget for 2008-2011. >> More

Managing water resources under changing climate: experiences from California
by F. Chung
Article based on the author's scientific lecture to EC-60

Only a small fraction, 2.5 per cent, of all water on Earth is freshwater. Almost 70 per cent of that freshwater is frozen in the icecaps of the Antarctic and Greenland; most of the remainder is present as soil moisture or lies in deep groundwater inaccessible for human consumption. >> More

Awards

Details of the awards conferred by the Executive Council in June 2008 >>More

Beijing 2008 Olympics Project

At a time of the year when high temperatures and thunderstorms occur frequently, weather predictions and characterization of associated risk will be a significant factor for the success of the Olympic Games being held in China. For the third consecutive Games, WMO is coordinating efforts by the host country and other Members of the Organization to provide timely and accurate weather information. >> More

China launches weather satellite

China launched the first of its new generation of polar-orbiting meteorological satellites, Fengyun-3A, on 27 May 2008 from Taiyuan satellite launch centre in Shanxi Province. The payload of this new generation spacecraft is comprised of a complex suite of instruments including visible and infrared imagers, infrared and microwave sounders, a microwave imager, an ultra-violet spectroradiometer and a space environment monitor. >> More