Climate, extreme weather top concerns at global weather congress

Weather experts from around the world began convening in Geneva on Monday for a congress where Swiss Interior Minister Alain Berset emphasised the need to reduce the impact of natural disasters and climate change. Organisers of the congress, held by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) every four years, say it will focus on how to strengthen weather and climate services to meet the needs of a growing global population and to cope with climate variability and change, extreme weather and related shocks on all socio-economic sectors. "To ensure sustainable development, the global community needs reliable information on the state of the climate and the changes underway at this level,” Berset said on behalf of Switzerland, host to the organisation’s headquarters. “This is where WMO plays a key role, now and in the future.” Switzerland has been campaigning for a global climate regime that ensures adequate reductions of industrial gases that trap heat in the ...