The Vice President of the Republic of Maldives Dr. Mohamed J. Ahmed along with Mr. Toriq Ibrahim the Minister of Environment and Energy and Mr. Abdul Mohamed the State Minister of Environment and Energy has visited the Maldives Climate Observatory-Hanimaadhoo (MCO-H) on February 20, 2014. The visist of the Vice President was hosted by Dr. Krishnakant Budhvant, Resident Scientist at the MCOH. Dr. Budhavant explained to Vice President that how the measurements of air pollutants carrying out at the MCO-H are important for the assessment of local and regional air quality which immensely contributing to generate a wealth of scientific knowledge on atmospheric sciences and climate change. Dr. Budhavant emphasized that MCO-H is well equipped with advanced scientific instruments for air pollution measurements, and thus, it is a good place for organizing training for students, researchers, and the environmental policy makers.

The MCO-H is one of the super observatory of the ABC Climate Observatory Network, established a decade ago, by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to study regional level air pollution. The MCO-H is located at such strategic location in Indian Ocean which often remain under the influence of long transport of air pollution from South Asia, South East Asia and Africa. Over a decade, the MCO-H has been remained a favourite site for atmospheric measurements for the eminent scientists including Prof. V. Ramanathan, USA; Prof. H. Rodhe and Prof. O. Gustafsson, Sweden; and many other scientists of USA, India, Germany, etc.

The current visit of the Vice President of Maldives with ministers is a value added to the importance of the MCO-H at the political level, and is expecting a positive impact on regional environmental policy making. VP_Photo.zip