Against a backdrop of increasing hazards like floods and droughts in parts of the world and growing pressure on water resources, the World Meteorological Organization will strengthen implementation of its plan of action for hydrology.
A dedicated two-day Hydrological Assembly took place during the World Meteorological Congress to showcase the central role of hydrology in WMO’s Earth System approach and in the Early Warnings For All initiative.
Congress reinforced its long-term vision for hydrology. It approved strengthened flood forecasting initiatives. It also backed the principal goal of the Integrated Drought Management Programme to develop a global coordination of efforts to strengthen drought-monitoring, risk identification, drought prediction and early warning services. It backed the expansion of the existing HelpDesk on Integrated Flood Management and the HelpDesk on Integrated Drought Management (IDM) to support water resources management in its entirety.
Between 1970 and 2021, flood-related disasters were the most prevalent in terms of frequency. Tropical cyclones – which combine cascading wind, rainfall and flood hazards – were the leading cause of human and economic…
