Credit: World Meteorological Organisation (WMO)

Luxembourg will once again take part in World Meteorological Day, an event held annually on 23 March in commemoration of the establishment of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

Established in 1959, the WMO replaced the International Meteorological Organisation (IMO) created in 1873. The WMO Convention, which created the organisation, entered into force on 23 March 1950 and in 1960 it was decided to establish an annual World Meteorological Day on 23 March to commemorate the entry into force of the convention.

The theme for the World Meteorological Day 2019 will be "The Sun, the Earth and the Weather".  According to the WMO Executive Council, this theme reflects the basic objectives of the organisation since the data resulting from observations made by meteorological services provide valuable information on climate variability and climate change. 

Indeed, in its special report on global warming of 1.5°C, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded in October 2018 that human activities have caused a global warming of about 1.0°C above pre-industrial levels. This trend was also observed at the ASTA meteorological station in Luxembourg City during the period 1981-2010 during which temperatures were 1.3°C higher than those of the preindustrial period in Luxembourg (1861-1890).

At the Findel-Airport weather station operated by MeteoLux, the year 2018 was the hottest ever observed since records began in 1947. It was also marked by an annual summer day record (daily maximum temperature ≥ 25°C). It should be noted that days with extreme heat (daily maximum temperature ≥35°C) have also become more frequent since the mid-1990s. Such figures ​​corroborate the current trend of global warming.

Despite global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, especially under the Paris Agreement, the IPCC report has shown that warming will continue for at least several decades. Agriculture is one of the most sensitive areas facing the climate: droughts, which are slowly changing climatic phenomena, but also extreme precipitation events, such as hail, can have a significant impact on the quantity and quality of harvests.

The main role of WMO is to ensure the transmission of vital weather and climate information between the various WMO Member Meteorological and Hydrological Services. Luxembourg became aware of the importance of WMO from its inception and joined on 17 August 1953 under the leadership of the Meteorological Service of the Agricultural Service (predecessor of the Technical Services Administration of the agriculture, ASTA). Since then, the head of the Meteorological Service of ASTA represents Luxembourg at the WMO. In this context, the first Meteorological Service in Luxembourg was created 112 years ago (in 1907) and attached to the Agricultural Service. Since then the network of weather stations has continued to grow and modernise and it now currently has 32 stations across the Grand Duchy.