Lightning strikes killed 109 Chinese people and injured 43 in August, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) announced on Friday.

 

China was more frequently hit by extreme weather conditions this year, said a CMA official.

 

According to the official, China's temperature averaged 21.6 degrees Celsius in August, the second highest for the same period of the year since 1951. The northwestern Qinghai Province experienced a 56-year high average temperature this summer.

 

Meanwhile, typhoons and tropical storms were comparatively less frequently along the coastal regions, he said.

 

The meteorological disasters this year were of "various types, wide reaching, scattered and very intense", said CMA head Zheng Guoguang earlier this month.

 

Zheng had pointed out that global warming increased the possibility of extreme weathers, adding that the lack of awareness contributed to the high death toll.

 

The China Association for Science and Technology and the CMA jointly launched a program this month to raise awareness of weather dangers.

 

In early July, the Ministry of Education, the State Meteorological Administration (SMA) and the emergency office of the State Council jointly started a campaign to provide free materials on how to avoid lightning strikes to more than 420,000 high schools and primary schools nationwide.

 

The materials include DVDs of stories and cartoons and illustrations, showing how lightning forms and tips on how to avoid it.

 

The SMA has also initiated a two-month training program and more than 5,000 people have registered.

 

The program is designed to train practitioners in local meteorological units using the Internet and DVDs.

 

Figures from the CMA show that 19,982 accidents involving lightning strikes occurred in 2006 across the country, claiming 717 lives and injuring 640 people.

 

(Xinhua News Agency September 1, 2007)