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)