Cost of crop failure soars as weather disasters become more frequent and severe
Tania Branigan, guardian.co.uk 30 Jun 09;
China faces an increase in weather disasters which will threaten crops and economic growth, the country's most senior forecaster has warned.
He Lifu, of the National Meteorological Centre, told the China Daily newspaper that events such as droughts, floods and storms had become more frequent and severe since the 1990s and the trend was likely to continue.
"Extreme weather will be more frequent in the future due to the instability of the atmosphere, and global warming might be the indirect cause," the forecaster told the English-language paper. He said his agency responded to 16 emergencies last year, the most since its foundation in 1949.
The annual economic cost of extreme weather has soared from 176.2bn yuan (£15.6bn) on average in the 1990s to 244bn yuan (£21.5bn) between 2004 and last year, according to ministry of civil affairs figures cited by the paper.
Farmers are resorting to their own measures to avoid losses. Wheat producers in Henan, Shandong and Hebei fired chemical pellets into the clouds this month to prevent hail and heavy rain from damaging their harvest.
The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters has also warned that drought has become more frequent since the 1990s, causing more crop failures.
According to the China Daily, the headquarters figures show that annual grain loss caused by drought has averaged 37.3m tonnes since 2000 – almost twice the level in the 1980s – while the annual average proportion of damaged crops has risen to 59.3%, compared with 48% in the 1990s.
Sun Jisong, the chief forecaster at the Beijing Meteorological Bureau, cautioned that part of the apparent increase in extreme weather might be due to more advanced observation techniques and improved recording.
He added that dealing with the rise would require reduced consumption of energy and resources to tackle the causes and improve forecasting and defences.
Last month, the annual Red Cross report said that a rise in weather-related disasters worldwide over the last decade – from around 200 a year in the 1990s to around 350 – was continuing. Its secretary general, Bekele Geleta, warned that extreme-weather events would become more frequent and more severe.
China braces for extreme weather: state media
Yahoo News 30 Jun 09;
BEIJING (AFP) – China is bracing for extreme weather, with strong gales and scorching heat in recent weeks serving as harbingers of disasters to come, state media has said.
Since the 1990s China has experienced a steadily growing trend of weather-related calamities, such as droughts, storms and floods, with experts saying global warming is partly to blame, the China Daily reported.
"Extreme weather will be more frequent in the future due to the instability of the atmosphere, and global warming might be the indirect cause," said He Lifu, the top weather forecaster at the China Meteorological Administration.
Last year, the administration responded to 16 weather-related emergencies, the highest number in six decades, according to the paper.
This year could prove equally hazardous, with weather in different parts of China registering various forms of extremes in recent weeks, the paper reported.
The eastern province of Anhui was hit twice by intense storms in June, killing 37 people, while parts of north China are now seeing temperatures as high as 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), it said.
The changing weather patterns do not just take a toll in terms of human lives but are also immensely costly.
In the period from 2004 until 2008, extreme weather caused average annual costs of 244 billion yuan (36 billion dollars), up from an average of 176 billion yuan in the 1990s, the paper said.
China has shown increasing concern in recent years about the consequences of global warming.
But as part of ongoing global negotiations to replace the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012, China has said the bulk of the responsibility for emissions cuts lies with developed nations.
