Background

Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and the physical and chemical processes that govern change in the atmosphere, with the intention to gain an understanding of weather and climate systems. To assist forecasting weather from local to global spatial scales, meteorologists must quantify atmospheric variables such as temperature, pressure, humidity, wind speed and atmospheric constancy. In India, two institutes, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), generate climate research and forecasting. The IMD, first established in 1875, has since developed a robust archive of existing infrastructure, including both surface and upper-air, in situ and remote sensing monitoring systems that allow the IMD to deliver forecasts and climate monitoring to the public. Furthermore, IMD, along with IITM, implemented the new Bharat Forecasting System, which has a 6 km grid forecast model, to improve short to medium-range prediction of severe weather and climate phenomena, with a strong focus on agriculture and disaster preparedness. It cannot be stressed enough that reliable meteorological forecasting can help farmers respond to climate variability and ultimately reduce crop loss and improve yields through agricultural decision-making. The majority of studies that focus on anthropogenic climate change and its relationship to disasters in India indicate the physics of extreme rainfall through meteorological research, and are vitally important for flood risk management and infrastructure planning for the future.

Teaching the basics of meteorology to children promotes scientific thinking, environmental awareness, and resilience to natural hazards. Children inherently relate to weather; taking measurements of variables like temperature or rainfall invokes hands-on learning experiences and scientific methodology. The process of observing patterns, running their experiments, and collecting and interpreting data nurtures critical reasoning. Additionally, teaching about weather awareness can arm children with life-saving knowledge: having a better understanding of how storms develop, of cloud types and respective rainfall intensities, helping them to identify the early warning signs. Early experiences also help develop cognitive skills such as perception of time, improve language by learning weather-related vocabulary, and pique the inquiry of environmental issues such as climate change. In a world with rising temperatures and extreme weather becoming normalised, youth meteorological literacy will produce thinking and resilient future citizens who can identify STEM and environmental-related challenges and engage with them. 

For this reason, the project, “CloudLabs”, is focused on inculcating a practice-based STEM education amongst underserved children by exposing them to the fascinating aspects of the natural world.