09 August 2007, 10:00:00 Monica Liau
Chinese authorities say global warming is to blame for the extreme weather conditions that have afflicted the country this year, Reuters reports. Summer floods have killed more than 700 people across 24 provinces and displaced an estimated 5 million more. In other provinces, drought has left more than 8 million people short of water. Because China has both limited water resources and a large population living in reclaimed flood zones, droughts and flooding are annual problems. But experts say sustained weather events like those experienced this year are abnormal and likely to worsen in the coming years.
“One of the reasons for the weather extremes this year has been unusual atmospheric circulation brought about by global warming,” said Song Lianchun, head of the China Meteorological Administration’s Department of Forecasting Services and Disaster Mitigation.In Hunan Province alone, more than 1.2 million people are facing a water “crisis” as the region has received 25 percent less rain than normal. The province is also facing temperatures of over 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), which has forced several cities to start “seeding” clouds to try to create artificial rain. Also hard hit is the central province of Henan, the country’s breadbasket. Rainfall in the region since March has been down 70 percent on average for the last two years, with no significant precipitation expected this month, according to Xinhua News.
Facing the opposite problem, Central Hubei Province is currently on high alert as water pours into the Yangtze River at 51,000 cubic meters per second, according to Reuters. The Three Gorges Reservoir, into which the Yangtze river flows is expected to experience continually rising water levels, putting the downstream city of Wuhan at risk. Earlier this summer, millions fled from the Huai River as it rose beyond its banks, which affected Henan Province and the eastern provinces of Anhui and Jiangsu. The river has finally begun to retreat after a month of high water.
“These kinds of extremes will become more frequent, and more obvious. This has already been borne out by the facts,” Song said at a news conference carried live on the central government Web site. “I think the impact on our country will definitely be very large.”
China is not the only country that has been hit by excessive weather patterns this year. This summer, western England experienced its worst flood in 60 years, and Indonesia is facing rising fatalities from deadly mudslides triggered by high rainfall. In India and Bangladesh, more than 30 million people have been affected by regional flooding and rain, and more than 150 have died over the past eight days.
High-profile natural disasters are expected to become more frequent around the world, according to scientists writing in the journal Nature. They found that humans have contributed significantly to these changes, which include more rain and snow in northern regions such as Canada, Russia, and Europe, drier conditions in the northern tropics, and more rainfall in the southern tropics. Human-caused climate change has had a “detectable influence” on changes in average precipitation, and the trend cannot be explained by normal climate variations, they wrote.
As China’s economy races forward, the international community has reiterated its request that the nation introduce mandatory caps on carbon dioxide emissions from its factories and vehicles. So far, China has rejected such a proposal for fear the country’s economic growth would be unfairly cut. However, in recent years the government has introduced many efforts dedicated to curbing air pollution nationwide. China currently ranks close to the United States in greenhouse gas emissions, and in June, Dutch researchers announced that the country may now be the world’s leading emitter of carbon dioxide.
China Watch is a joint initiative of the Worldwatch Institute and Beijing-based Global Environmental Institute (GEI) and is supported by the blue moon fund.
Chinese authorities say global warming is to blame for the extreme weather conditions that have afflicted the country this year, Reuters reports. Summer floods have killed more than 700 people across 24 provinces and displaced an estimated 5 million more. In other provinces, drought has left more than 8 million people short of water. Because China has both limited water resources and a large population living in reclaimed flood zones, droughts and flooding are annual problems. But experts say sustained weather events like those experienced this year are abnormal and likely to worsen in the coming years.
“One of the reasons for the weather extremes this year has been unusual atmospheric circulation brought about by global warming,” said Song Lianchun, head of the China Meteorological Administration’s Department of Forecasting Services and Disaster Mitigation.In Hunan Province alone, more than 1.2 million people are facing a water “crisis” as the region has received 25 percent less rain than normal. The province is also facing temperatures of over 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), which has forced several cities to start “seeding” clouds to try to create artificial rain. Also hard hit is the central province of Henan, the country’s breadbasket. Rainfall in the region since March has been down 70 percent on average for the last two years, with no significant precipitation expected this month, according to Xinhua News.
Facing the opposite problem, Central Hubei Province is currently on high alert as water pours into the Yangtze River at 51,000 cubic meters per second, according to Reuters. The Three Gorges Reservoir, into which the Yangtze river flows is expected to experience continually rising water levels, putting the downstream city of Wuhan at risk. Earlier this summer, millions fled from the Huai River as it rose beyond its banks, which affected Henan Province and the eastern provinces of Anhui and Jiangsu. The river has finally begun to retreat after a month of high water.
“These kinds of extremes will become more frequent, and more obvious. This has already been borne out by the facts,” Song said at a news conference carried live on the central government Web site. “I think the impact on our country will definitely be very large.”
China is not the only country that has been hit by excessive weather patterns this year. This summer, western England experienced its worst flood in 60 years, and Indonesia is facing rising fatalities from deadly mudslides triggered by high rainfall. In India and Bangladesh, more than 30 million people have been affected by regional flooding and rain, and more than 150 have died over the past eight days.
High-profile natural disasters are expected to become more frequent around the world, according to scientists writing in the journal Nature. They found that humans have contributed significantly to these changes, which include more rain and snow in northern regions such as Canada, Russia, and Europe, drier conditions in the northern tropics, and more rainfall in the southern tropics. Human-caused climate change has had a “detectable influence” on changes in average precipitation, and the trend cannot be explained by normal climate variations, they wrote.
As China’s economy races forward, the international community has reiterated its request that the nation introduce mandatory caps on carbon dioxide emissions from its factories and vehicles. So far, China has rejected such a proposal for fear the country’s economic growth would be unfairly cut. However, in recent years the government has introduced many efforts dedicated to curbing air pollution nationwide. China currently ranks close to the United States in greenhouse gas emissions, and in June, Dutch researchers announced that the country may now be the world’s leading emitter of carbon dioxide.
China Watch is a joint initiative of the Worldwatch Institute and Beijing-based Global Environmental Institute (GEI) and is supported by the blue moon fund.
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