Friday, June 1, 2012

OCEANOGRAPHERS AND METEOROLOGISTS DISCUSS CLIMATE CHANGE


OCEANOGRAPHERS AND METEOROLOGISTS DISCUSS CLIMATE CHANGE, MARITIME AND COASTAL SAFETY
 
Yeosu, Republic of Korea, 23 May 2012 (WMO) - The interrelationship between our 
changing climate and oceans which cover two thirds of the Earth’s surface will be on 
the agenda of an intergovernmental commission of meteorologists and 
oceanographers discussing improved cooperation in the face of challenges such as 
maritime and coastal safety and the need for more high-quality data from the ocean to 
support weather prediction and climate studies. 
The Joint Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM) of the World 
Meteorological Organization (WMO) and UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic 
Commission (IOC), meets in Yeosu, Republic of Korea, 23-31 May to consider progress and 
priorities in strengthening our understanding of oceans through collective action. 
  
The session coincides with Expo 2012 Yeosu Korea, which has as its theme “The Living 
Ocean and Coast." 
The oceans have long been recognized as a major component of the global climate system 
and their interaction with the atmosphere – for instance in so-called El Niño/La Niña events – 
has a major impact on weather patterns and the natural variability of our climate. Now more 
than ever, there is a need to increase our knowledge of the feedbacks between climate, 
ocean and changes induced by human activities.  
The JCOMM meeting will discuss how to strengthen marine meteorological and 
oceanographic information and services, through improved data exchange and management, 
through enhanced observing systems – from satellites, data buoys, tide gauges and 
observations from ships. JCOMM oversees global networks that feed publicly-available data 
in real time to research and modelling centres developing weather and climate information 
and services. 
 
Disaster Risk Reduction 
 
Disaster risk reduction on the oceans and in coastal zones is another main theme of the 
meeting.  


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