Bangladesh joins World Meteorological Day 2019 celebration

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DHAKA, March 23, 2019 (BSS) – Bangladesh today joined the World
Meteorological Day-2019, with its global theme this year being “the Sun, the
Earth and the Weather” against the backdrop of growing climate change
concerns.

Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) staged a workshop at its
headquarters to mark the day to highlight the climate change effects on
Bangladesh while it was opened by Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing
Committee on Ministry of Defense, Major General (retd) Mohammad Shubid Ali
Bhuiyan.

Secretary of the ministry Akhter Hussain Bhuiya, additional secretary
Selina Haq joined the function as special guests while meteorologists later
joined a technical session on the issue.

World Meteorological Organization (WMO) selected the theme of the year
saying the climate change phenomenon makes it hard for ecosystems as well as
humankind to adapt.

The WMO in a statement said satellite measurements taken over the past 30
years showed that the Sun’s energy output has not increased and that the
recent warming observed on Earth cannot be attributed to changes in Sun
activity.

But, it said, the rise in temperatures continued melting ice and heating
the oceans because of long-lived greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

“Carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations reached 405.5 parts per million (ppm)
in 2017 and continue to rise. Since 1990, there has been a 41% increase in
total radiative forcing – the warming effect on the climate – by long-lived
greenhouse gases,” it said.

The statement said the CO2 accounts for about 82 percent of the increase
in radiative forcing over the past decade.

It added: “If the current trend in greenhouse gas concentrations
continues, we may see temperature increases of 3oC to 5oC by the end of the
century.”