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| Photo by Jamila Estanislao |
“Nature is so powerful, so strong. Capturing its essence is not easy - your work becomes a dance with light and the weather. It takes you to a place within yourself.“ — Annie Leibovitz
Have you ever wondered how people would have predicted the weather tomorrow or later back when weather reports weren't even a thing? Would they just feel the wind or listen to the sound of the ocean waves? Or maybe they would have predicted it like some magician? From what I have discovered online, people depended on the wind, the sky, the behaviors of animals, or the past patterns of seasons. It seems complicated but it is what got them going with their plans for each day.
There are times that the weather broadcasted on TV was inaccurate due to the unpredictable nature of the weather; people back then sure had a harder time figuring out whether they might get soaked under the rain or maybe get hit by thunder along the way. But what if during this day and age, weather and climate reports just suddenly vanished? Can you imagine how our lives would be?
Picture this: pitter, patter, pitter, patter. Fat raindrops quickly descend as people panic to go under a roof, some who always go out prepared have umbrellas in their bags, but for others, they’d curse under their breath at the inconvenience. They’re forced to find a place for cover and wait for the rain to stop. Then, rumble goes the thunder as it whips through the sky. Rrrrumble! There it goes again. The people flinch at the sound. What is going on? They’d think. It looks like no one expected this and the rain seems as though it isn’t going to stop anytime soon. It would be like this for some time, people would start to think and they’d get a vague idea of what the weather would be on the following days—cautiously tiptoeing around, waiting for the sky to get angry, or maybe get better if they have hope. The sudden disappearance of vital weather reports and climate information has made everyone anxious as they conceive of navigating a future uncertain of what’s to come and happen with their surroundings.
Now as you picture this scenario, it is pretty stressful to think about right? I would definitely get grumpy or worried every day if I don’t have any information if it is going to be a sunny, stormy, or rainy day. People may not seem to take much notice of weather reports we see online or on the news but they play a vital role, beyond conception, when it comes to our daily lives.
Hence today, March 23, we commemorate World Meteorological Day, to acknowledge the establishment of the World Meteorological Organization which was established on March 23, 1950. WMO is an intergovernmental organization dedicated to cooperating and coordinating vital information on the Earth’s atmosphere, its interaction with the oceans, and the weather and climate it produces. So today, we recognize WMO—its global work and commitment to promoting and facilitating advancements in meteorology, operational hydrology, and the geophysical sciences. Happy World Meteorological Day, everyone!
