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Rain Stopped Play



The prospect of a very rainy day was not encouraging and, what with last minute cancellations, as there were also going to be more non-participants than participants, so, for once in a long while, the walk was called off. Maybe next week …..

As I watched the early morning rain bucketing down (even Figaro the House Cat refused to go outside), I was informed by the BBC that today is World Meteorological Day. How very apt !

So I looked it up and found that, on this day, we are all called on to “celebrate” the founding in 1950 of the World Meteorological Organisation, and that this year WMO´s celebratory theme is “early warning and early action.”

The Organisation´s website reads as follows:-

Weather, climate and water extremes are becoming more frequent and intense in many parts of the world as a result of climate change. More of us are exposed than ever before to multiple related hazards, which are themselves evolving as a result of population growth, urbanization and environmental degradation.

Forecasts of what the weather will BE are no longer enough. Impact-based forecasts that inform the public of what the weather will DO are vital to save lives and livelihoods. Yet one in three people are still not adequately covered by early warning systems. Greater coordination between national meteorological and hydrological services, disaster management authorities and development agencies is fundamental to better prevention, preparedness and response. COVID-19 has complicated the challenges facing society and weakened coping mechanisms. The pandemic has also highlighted that, in our inter-connected world, we need to embrace a truly multi-hazard, cross-border approach to make progress towards global goals on climate action, disaster risk reduction and sustainable development.

Well, that´s a cheerful message perfectly designed to get one jumpin´ up and down in celebration, isn´it? I don´t know who gets paid to write that sort of stuff – (I´m not necessarily knocking what they are saying, but the way they say it---"weather and climate are becoming more frequent" and  “embracing multi-hazard approaches” indeed.). Quite how Covid got dragged in there, I don´t know. Surprising that Brexit didn´t get its share of the blame as well.

So let´s end with a something a little bit more cheerful




Comments

  1. Paulo a Pe23 March 2022 at 17:51

    Very cheery! A Blog for this Wednesday published on this very Wednesday. And a comment on the blog for this Wednesday added before even Yves has read it! As many others who only rely on Johns email link, will also have failed.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yves23 March 2022 at 18:08

    My kompootah did the splits and that hurted, a very lot! Had to go to the Menders, hence the slow response...
    A near perfect 'crown' picture: well done John!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Paulo a Pe23 March 2022 at 18:23

    After celebrating World Meteorological Day in style, maybe we have time normally reserved for reading the normal long form blog to check out other fascinating facts about March 23rd.
    Open this link;
    https://www.daysoftheyear.com/

    ReplyDelete
  4. John Hope24 March 2022 at 12:58

    Natio0nal Melba Toast Day ! That´s a bit more like it. I think Paul is onto something here.

    ReplyDelete
  5. John Hope24 March 2022 at 13:00

    And today, Thursday 24th March, is National Chocolate Covered Raisin Day

    ReplyDelete

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