17 October 2008: The sixteenth session of the Global Climate
Observing System (GCOS) Steering Committee took place from 14-17 October 2008,
in Geneva, Switzerland. The GCOS Steering Committee is a group of experts
selected for their personal expertise and appointed jointly by the GCOS
sponsoring organizations – the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and the
International Council for Science (ICSU) – to formulate the overall concept and
scope of GCOS and to provide scientific and technical guidance to the
sponsoring and participating agencies for the planning, implementation and
further development of GCOS. Committee members were presented with an overview
of key activities over the past year and with feedback from sponsors regarding
future development of GCOS.
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17 October 2008: The sixteenth session of the Global Climate
Observing System (GCOS) Steering Committee took place from 14-17 October 2008,
in Geneva, Switzerland. The GCOS Steering Committee is a group of experts
selected for their personal expertise and appointed jointly by the GCOS
sponsoring organizations – the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and the
International Council for Science (ICSU) – to formulate the overall concept and
scope of GCOS and to provide scientific and technical guidance to the
sponsoring and participating agencies for the planning, implementation and
further development of GCOS.
read more »
21 October 2008: A policy dialogue took place on 21 October
2008, at UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) headquarters in Rome,
Italy, on the role of wood products and forests in climate change mitigation
and greenhouse gas balances. The event was one of several taking place as part
of European Forest Week 2008, which is being held from 20-24 October 2008.
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20 October 2008: The World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
Fourth International Workshop on Monsoons is taking place from 20–25 October
2008, in Beijing, China. The workshop is part of the WMO major quadrennial
symposia and workshops series under the World Weather Research Programme
(WWRP).
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19 October 2008: On World Food Day, celebrated on 18
October, the Joint UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Division of Nuclear techniques in Food and
Agriculture (NAFA) highlighted the role of nuclear technology in developing new
crop varieties that can withstand climate-induced external stress, such as
drought, and thereby contributing to achieving sustainable food security.
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15 October 2008: The UN Fourth Committee (Special Political
and Decolonization) concluded its general debate on international cooperation
in the peaceful uses of outer space with a broad agreement on the value of
shared space technologies as a tool for sustainable development and disaster
management.
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16 October 2008: The second symposium on “The Ocean in a
High CO2 World” convened from 6-9 October 2008, at the Oceanography Museum of
Monaco, sponsored by, inter alia, the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research,
the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Committee of the UN Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization (IOC-UNESCO), and the International Atomic Energy
Agency’s (IAEA) Marine Environmental Laboratory.
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14 October 2008: During the debate on international
cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space by the Fourth Committee (Special
Political and Decolonization) of the 63rd General Assembly, Ciro Arévalo Yepes,
Chairman of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, underscored the
role space technology could play in addressing climate change, food security
and health.
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October 2008: The Ministry of Regional Municipalities and
Water Resources, Sultanate of Oman, and the Regional Centre on Urban Water
Management, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, in cooperation with the World
Meteorological Organization (WMO), the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) and other partners, are organizing the International
Conference on Water Resources and Climate Change in the Middle East – North
Africa (MENA) Region, which will take place from 2-4 November 2008, Muscat,
Oman.
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9 October 2008: European countries met from 9-10 October
2008, in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova, to discuss practical ways to reduce the
impacts of natural hazards through strengthened collaboration among the World
Meteorological Organization's (WMO) National Meteorological and Hydrological
Services and disaster risk management institutions.
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