A national conference on the meteorological layout for the 11th
Five-Year Plan concluded on Monday in Fuzhou, capital of east
China's Fujian Province. Experts said that China's climate and
environment have changed markedly as a result of global warming, a
development that has caused or contributed to more severe natural
disasters.
Plans for the development of China's meteorological work were
discussed at the two-day conference. More than 150 representatives
from across the country attended the conference. Wang Shourong,
vice-director of China
Meteorological Administration, made a keynote speech on the
plans.
Climate warming in China has ranged from 0.5 to 0.8 degrees
Celsius over the last century. In the last 50 years, the north has
experienced the highest rise in average temperature. Temperatures
in northern parts of northeast China, Inner Mongolia and the
western basin have risen more than 4 degrees. Meanwhile, a rise in
precipitation has been reported mainly in the western basin,
ranging from 50 percent to 75 percent. Southern parts of northeast
and north China saw a downward trend, experts were quoted by Xinhua
News Agency as saying.
These factors have resulted in more frequent and more severe
precipitations. Annual precipitation and extreme precipitation in
the Yangtze River region have increased. Volume and intensity of
rainfall have also increased.
Since the mid-1990s, the number of days in summer with
temperature higher than 35 degrees has increased noticeably,
particularly in the northwestern parts of north China. The number
of hot days in southern parts of north China has correspondingly
decreased.
Patterns of extreme weather have also changed. Cold-weather
fronts with frost, sandstorms, and reports of cold-related injuries
have decreased. But more damage caused by snow have been
reported.
Droughts are another side effect of climate warming. There have
been reports of droughts that last for five to six years in certain
parts of north China.
Experts added that artificial precipitation has helped to
alleviate the situation somewhat. The technology, in use for many
years in China, has resulted in the precipitation of more than 260
billion cubic meters of rainfall between 1995 and 2004.
(China.org.cn by Zhang Yunxing?November 2, 2005)