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  Yahoo News 28 Dec 06
Experts say extreme weather on the rise in China

BEIJING (AFP) - China has experienced some of its deadliest weather in years in 2006 and climate experts expect the extreme conditions to continue Typhoons, floods and droughts claimed 2,704 lives and inflicted economic losses of 212 billion yuan (27 billion dollars) this year, the highest tolls in nearly a decade, Xinhua news agency said Thursday.

"The losses China suffered this year were second only to those inflicted in 1998, when an extremely severe flood ravaged the country," said Qin Dahe, director of the China Meteorological Administration, in comments quoted by the agency.

The grim figures come a day after China's first national climate change assessment predicted the country faced rising temperatures and more extreme weather phenomena in the years ahead, as global warming increases.

Qin said both the intensity of the weather and the damage caused in 2006 were "rare" in the country's history.

Seven typhoons and another seven strong tropical storms hit the Chinese mainland this year, including Typhoon Saomai, which killed 460 people and was the strongest in China since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949, Xinhua said.

Eighteen sandstorms scoured northern China this spring, the most in six years, while the worst droughts in several decades ravaged southwestern China, it added.

China's worsening pollution problems added to its woes, with northern China experiencing its worst acid rain in 14 years.

National climate Centre Director Dong Wenjie predicted the weather also would be worse than normal in 2007, Xinhua said.

The government's climate change report released Wednesday warned that rising temperatures would lead in the future to excessive precipitation in some areas, while drought, heat waves and other extreme weather would ravage others.
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