World Meteorological Day–“Preventing and mitigating natural disasters”

Every year on 23 March the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and its 187 Members, as well as meteorological communities worldwide, celebrate World Meteorological Day. This Day commemorates the entry into force, in 1950, of the Convention that created this specialized agency of the United Nations System. For the year 2006 was chosen the theme “Preventing and mitigating natural disasters”. This choice was made in recognition of the fact that 90 per cent of all natural hazards are related to weather, climate and water and also due to the vital role played by WMO and the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) in all countries in contributing to the prevention, preparedness and mitigation of natural disasters, as well as those arising from environmental emergencies. A synopsis of extreme events in the recent past shows their growing impact on sustainable development. This Bureau prepared a programme of approximately one month in order to inform the population about the different areas of human activities in which the meteorology plays an important role, in general, and, in particular, about the activities undertaken by SMG which contribute for the reduction and mitigation of natural disasters, contributing for the sustainable development of the MSAR. In the beginning of the commemoration activities of the “World Meteorological Day 2006”, it has taken place on days 1 and 2 March the “Second Technical-Scientific Seminar on Seismology Among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao”, which gathered seismologists, geophysics and meteorologists from the three regions. The organization of this 2nd Seminar contributed without question to the prestige of Macao in this area, in a time that the world is expecting solutions from the scientific community. The discussion results are indubitably considered fruitful, not only for the SMG staff but also for the people that work in the area of the prevention and mitigation of natural disasters. A celebration ceremony will be held at SMG headquarters, on 23 of March, with the presence of the Secretary for Transport and Public Works Eng. Ao Man Long, who will preside, with informative objectives, trough the mass media, about the importance of the Meteorology and his contribution for preventing and mitigating natural disasters in MSAR. One of the issues of the program includes a short briefing about the very important role played by the Operation Center for Civil Protection referring activities of civil protection resulted from extreme meteorological phenomena. The Remote Sensing System by Laser Beam (Lidar) of SMG, which is result of the technical collaboration between this Bureau and the City University of Hong Kong, will be inaugurated. Meteorological lectures conducted in the last three years in this occasion, are one of the activities more popular in Macao secondary schools, which reflects the great interest of the schools and students about the meteorological phenomena. In this regard there were 31 lectures attended by 5335 students, 26 lectures attended by 5616 students and 24 lectures attended 5616 students, respectively in 2003, 2004 and 2005, which confirms this enthusiasm. For this year, are already confirmed 28 lectures which will be attended by about 5200 students. Lectures in the secondary schools, which will be conducted between 13 and 31 of March, about meteorological and geophysical subjects, include areas of great interest nowadays, for instance earthquakes and their effects, air quality and health, prevention and mitigation of disasters related with typhoons, heavy rains and its impact, climate change and the Lidar System of SMG. Scientific lectures are prepared and presented by SMG Meteorologists based on the most recent findings and data concerning the themes for presentation. At last, find enclosed the message from the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, Prof. Dr. Michel J.P. Jarraud on the occasion of the World Meteorological Day 2006 (in Chinese, Portuguese and English).