China suffers heavily from weather-related disasters
( 2003-10-22 23:32) (Xinhua)
China is now one of the world's worst sufferers of weather-related
adversities and disasters, which inflict direct economic losses accounting for
three to six percent of its whole Gross Domestic Product.
Qin Dahe, director general of the China Meteorological Administration, said
Wednesday at a strategic meeting on national meteorological work that since the
latter half of the 20th century, global warming and increased disastrous weather
conditions have exerted a considerable negative impact on China's social and
economic development.
"The warming up of the temperature has brought about numerous problems of
ecology, resources and environment, which constrained the sustained social and
economic development while threatening the country's security and environmental
diplomacy," said Qin.
According to experts, the extreme disastrous weather conditions threatening
China mainly include the frequent dry spells hitting the northern China,
tropical cyclones like typhoons striking the eastern coastal areas and the rapid
rise in the number of rainstorms.
Among them, drought stands as the most dangerous threat as figures show they
contribute to about half of the losses created by weather-related disasters,
which, in turn, contribute to more than 70 percent of the losses resulted from
various natural disasters.
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