SAC Member DPM MoTC Union Minister attends 63rd Anniversary of World Meteorological Day

The ceremony of the 63rd anniversary of World Meteorological Day (WMD), organized by the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology (DMH), Ministry of Transport and Communications, was celebrated in Nay Pyi Taw yesterday.
The ceremony was attended by State Administration Council Member Deputy Prime Minister Union Minister for Transport and Communications Admiral Tin Aung San, Union Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation U Min Naung, Union Minister for Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation U Khin Maung Yi, the deputy ministers, heads of departments, departmental officials and guests.
State Administration Council Member Deputy Prime Minister Union Minister for Transport and Communications Admiral Tin Aung San delivered the opening address. He highlighted that the memorial ceremony of World Meteorological Day has been celebrated annually every year on 23 March all over the world. The theme of this year 2023 is ‘The Future of Weather, Climate and Water across Generations’. He also pointed out, due to climate change, Meteorological, Hydrological and Climatic Extremes events are becoming more frequent around the world, especially in the island and developing countries, which are the most affected by climate change. According to the statements of the World Meteorological Organization, 2016 was recorded as the hottest year in the world. Again, the La Niña process starting from 2020 up to 2022 was remarked as a “triple-dip” La Niña event. However, it has been observed that the La Niña processes are not as cool as they should be, because they cannot overcome the current global warming. According to the annual analysis of the World Meteorological Organization after 2022, the average temperature of the world has already exceeded the pre-industrial era by 1.06 degrees Celsius. Due to global warming, the melting of the icebergs and average sea level has already risen about 24 centimetres higher than the sea level of the year 1880s, so some island countries are encountered many challenges. In addition, the changing rainfall pattern, flooding due to untimely heavy rain, and in contrast, droughts and water shortages have been also experienced every year. In order to reduce the increase in temperature, the United Nations Convention on climate change which was held in Paris, France in 2015 agreed that the temperature limited to not more than 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to the level of the pre-industrial period. Now that the rate of climate change is accelerating, all people should collaborate to reduce the impact of natural disasters relevant to meteorology and hydrology. And therefore to be made sure that future generations can survive and thrive.
The Deputy Prime Minister and party enjoyed the video message of Prof Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, and the weather and climate change video clip. Then, the Deputy Prime Minister gave prizes to winners in the 2023 World Meteorological Day commemorative article contest. He also visited the exhibition to mark the World Meteorological Day 2023.
In the afternoon, the paper reading session continued, and nine research papers were presented on relevant meteorological, hydrological and seismological topics from the Ministry of Transport and Communications and the Ministry of Education. — MNA