The celebrations of World Meteorological Day and World Water Day organised by the  Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service (DHMZ) took place on Wednesday, 20 March 2024, at the National and University Library in Zagreb under the motto “Committed to Climate Action”

Climate change is already having a real and measurable impact on our way of life, affecting our security, economy, environment and water resources. High-quality weather and climate forecasts and early warning systems help emergency services to respond in time to minimise damage and limit the impact of extreme weather events.

By providing timely, accurate and tailored meteorological, hydrological and climatic information, the DHMZ supports emergency services, citizens and the business sector. To improve this support, a project is currently being prepared to set up a modern system for monitoring climate change and its consequences. This project will strengthen computing capacities, set up information systems for faster dissemination of warnings about dangerous weather and water events and centralise all DHMZ services, activities and laboratories in a new functional building.

The project is being prepared in co-operation with the Josip Juraj Strossmayer Water Institute, which is dedicated to monitoring and improving the quality of water resources. Adapting to climate change also involves preparing for its consequences, and one way to achieve this is through education. As part of the project, the Water Institute will organise a series of lectures aimed at informing key staff of public water utilities on how to improve resilience to climate change through more efficient use of water resources by reducing losses in the water supply system, effective and rational management of wastewater treatment and sludge disposal, and the application of nature-based solutions (NbS). The project will also develop an information system necessary for the implementation of all activities of the Water Institute in accordance with the Regulation on the Establishment of the Josip Juraj Strossmayer Water Institute (NN 143/21). These activities include, among other things, the processing of all collected data for the purpose of preparing expert-technical and scientific analyses to support the competent authorities in making decisions on activities necessary for adaptation to climate change and measures to reduce the damage caused by climate change. The project will also strengthen the capacity of the Water Institute to monitor eutrophication, salinity and microplastics in water.

One of the key messages of the WMO report on the state of the world’s climate is: “The cost of inaction on climate change is higher than the cost of action on climate.”

Link to the article in the news: 

https://vijesti.hrt.hr/hrvatska/transformacija-hrvatske-u-klimatski-neutralno-drustvo-11424173

Link to DHMZ: 

https://meteo.hr/objave_najave_natjecaji.php?section=onn&param=objave&el=priopcenja&daj=pr20032024