PREFACE

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Global change and environmental issues are one of the urgent and common subjects human beings should solve; global warming issue due to the increment of greenhouse-effect gases like carbon dioxide according to enhancement of human activity, destruction of ozone layer by CFCs, acid rain and desertification, etc. Also every year we have a severe damage due to heavy thunderstorms and typhoons in our country. To prevent the damage is very important. In addition, as our country is a typical volcanic and earthquake country,we are highly required to establish the forecast technique for big earthquake and volcanic eruption.

To meet the above demands, the Meteorological Research Institute (MRI), as an associate institute of the Japan Meteorological Agency, is engaged in analysing and predicting meteorological, geophysical, hydrological and oceanographic phenomena, as well as developing extensive related technology.

For global warming isuue, the MRI contributes to the Intergovernmental Panel on ClimateChange (IPCC) supported by World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Moreover, our institute is activelyparticipating in several international projects, such as the following:

    World Meteorological Organization (WMO) 

• World Climate Research Programme (WCRP)
  • Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX)
  • World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE)

    International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU)

• International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP)

We hope this homepage will help you to understand the history, research activity and facilities of our institute.