Fewer sandstorms are forecast for the coming spring in China due to weak monsoon winds in east Asia, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) has announced.

Dong Wenjie, deputy director of the national climate center under the CMA, said the prediction came out of the joint consultations among scientists from China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK).

Statistics from China's six major meteorological stations show that the number of days with wind speeds exceeding six meters per second has gradually decreased since 1954, and experienced a rapid drop since the 1970s.

Experts said the reduction of windy weather in China and monsoon activity in east Asia was mainly caused by global climate warming.

Research shows the past century was the warmest period in the last 1,000 years, and the last two decades were the warmest in the past century. China has seen evident climate warming since 1985.

(Xinhua News Agency January 7, 2004)