World Meteorological Organization and Agricultural Droughts

Abstract

Adaptation strategies for coping with agricultural droughts must be based on a better understanding of the climatic conditions of the location or region under consideration. As the United Nations’ specialized agency with responsibility for meteorology and operational hydrology, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), since its inception, has been addressing the issue of agricultural droughts. This chapter presents a short overview of the various initiatives undertaken by WMO in this respect. The fight against drought receives a high priority in the long-term plan of WMO, particularly under the Agricultural Meteorology Programme, the Hydrology and Water Resources Programme, and the Technical Cooperation Programme. WMO actively involves the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs), regional and subregional meteorological centers, and other bodies in the improvement of hydrological and meteorological networks for systematic observation, exchange and analysis of data for better monitoring of droughts, and use of medium- and long-range weather forecasts, and assists in the transfer of knowledge and technology. Following is a brief description of various activities undertaken by WMO in the combat against drought. WMO has been in the forefront of research on interactions of climate, drought, and desertification from its beginnings in the mid-1970s, when it was suggested that human activities in drylands could alter surface features that would lead to an intensification of desertification processes and trends. WMO has been in the forefront of research on interactions of climate, drought, and desertification from its beginnings in the mid-1970s, when it was suggested that human activities in drylands could alter surface features that would lead to an intensification of desertification processes and trends. Human-induced changes in dryland surface conditions and atmospheric composition can certainly have an impact on local and regional climate conditions because they directly affect the energy budget of the surface and the overlying atmospheric column. These changes to the energy balance have been simulated in many numerical modeling studies covering almost all dryland areas of the world.