ENERGY-METEOROLOGY: A new discipline

“ENERGY” continues to be a priority area in several WMO programmes and activities. The relationships between the many aspects of energy in a societal context and climate/weather are becoming increasingly evident. Energy is one of the driving forces in socio-economic development. Many forms of energy are using climate as a resource, especially new and renewable forms of energy, such as solar and wind energy. Production and use of energy has a complex impact on the environment, including an impact on climate and the need for energy is normally directly related to climate and weather. Formally this is reflected in such documents as the WMO Long-term Plan where the following objectives of the World Climate Programme have been formulated: 1.(i) To facilitate the effective collection and management of climate data and the monitoring of the global climate system, including the detection and assessment of climate variability and changes;2.(ii) To foster the effective application of climate knowledge and information for the benefit of society and the provision of climate services, including the prediction of significant climate variations both natural and as a result of human activity;3.(iii) To assess the impacts of climate variability and changes that could markedly affect economic or social activities and advise governments thereon, and contribute to the development of a range of socio-economic response strategies that could be used by governments and the community;4.(iv) To improve the understanding of climate processes for determining the predictability of climate, including its variability and change, identifying the extent of human influence on climate and developing the capability for climate prediction.