By María Josefina Arce.
Of utmost importance for the future of the planet and humanity is undoubtedly meteorology, which studies all the phenomena that occur in the Earth's atmosphere such as climate, winds and rain.
At a time when the world is facing the threat to life posed by climate change, this science is essential, and in Cuba it has an outstanding development, both in terms of technology and human resources.
Since the creation of the Institute of Meteorology in 1965, much progress has been made in this field in our country and many highly trained specialists have been trained.
The work carried out by the Institute, in close collaboration with the Civil Defense, has made it possible to minimize the loss of lives and economic damages in the event of the occurrence of meteorological phenomena that are common in the Caribbean, such as hurricanes.
The permanent monitoring of these events by experts and timely information to the population allows the evacuation of residents in vulnerable areas to safe places to safeguard their lives and material goods.
Today, 68 meteorological stations, both conventional and automatic, are located throughout the archipelago.
The former use analog and digital instruments, but are recorded and reported by a trained meteorologist, while in the latter all values are obtained by digital sensors and may or may not have the intervention of a person for transmission.
These facilities, together with a wide network of radars and satellite systems, make possible weather forecasts of great interest to citizens and the monitoring of complex meteorological phenomena.
Cuba's great human potential in this science has developed several investigations with significant contributions, such as having identified the causes of drought in the country and the impacts of climate change, an urgency of the moment.
The Institute of Meteorology of Cuba is a reference in the Caribbean for its valuable contributions to the study of different weather variables.
The government of Cuba, founding country of the World Meteorological Organization, has paid special attention to this science, aware of its importance in ensuring the well-being, protection and safety of its citizens.
