OREANDA-NEWS. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), a specialized agency of the United Nations, has called on states to continue monitoring weather and climate, despite the difficulties associated with the global coronavirus pandemic. In a statement released Wednesday in Geneva, Secretary General Petteri Taalas recalled the continued danger of natural disasters and the need for early warning.

The effects of climate change and natural disasters continue to make themselves felt, Taalas emphasized, adding that “the COVID-19 pandemic creates additional difficulties and can exacerbate the many risks”. As the press service of WMO explained, meteorological surveillance systems, for example, their satellite component, as well as a significant proportion of ground stations, operate automatically and are expected to continue to operate without significant quality degradation “over the course of several weeks”.

In addition, over the past two weeks, the volume of information received from non-automated weather stations, which are located mainly in developing countries, has decreased.