As a specialized agency of the United Nations, WMO is dedicated to international cooperation and coordination on the state and behaviour of the Earth’s atmosphere, its interaction with the land and oceans, the weather and climate it produces, and the resulting distribution of water resources.
National Meteorological and Hydrological Services work around the clock to provide vital weather and climate information worldwide. Their early and reliable warnings of severe weather and fluctuations in air quality as well as of climate variability and change allow decision-makers, communities and individuals to be better prepared for weather and climate events. Their warnings help save life and property, protect resources and the environment and support socio-economic growth. WMO supports National Meteorological and Hydrological Services with this work and in meeting their international commitments in the areas of disaster risk reduction, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and sustainable development.
WMO programmes facilitate and promote:
- the establishment of networks of observational stations to provide weather, climate and water-related data;
- the establishment and maintenance of data management centres and telecommunication systems for the provision and rapid exchange of weather, climate and water-related data;
- the creation of standards for observation and monitoring in order to ensure adequate uniformity in the practices and procedures employed worldwide and, thereby, ascertain the homogeneity of data and statistics;
- the application of science and technology in operational meteorology and hydrology to aviation, transport (air, land and maritime), water resource management, agriculture and other focus areas;
- activities in operational hydrology as well as closer cooperation between National Meteorological and Hydrological Services in states and territories where they are separate; and
- the coordination of research and training in meteorology and related fields.
