Pretoria - As climate change, strongly linked to global warming, remains an important global issue, World Meteorological Day will this year focus on understanding the weather patterns.
The day aims to acknowledge the work of scientists all over the world, to provide accurate weather forecasting and climate information and raise awareness about the dangers of severe weather such as lightning, floods and others.
South Africa will join in commemorating the day under the theme "Understanding climate through weather"- with an event planed at the CSIR in Pretoria this morning.
By understanding the uncertainties and managing the risks of weather patterns, the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs believes that it will be a considerable influence on the management of other natural resources and decision making.
The climate is changing and the earth is warming up. Increasing temperatures have been reported in various regions and increasing extremes in weather patterns.
The recent victim was Japan which experienced a tsunami triggered by the 9.0 magnitude earthquake, which left an estimated 10 000 dead.
South Africa has also recently experienced increased lightning activity which led to loss of lives.
