Severe monsoon floods in Southeast Asia; abnormal rainstorms in
northern Europe, China, Sudan, Mozambique and Uruguay; extreme
heat-waves in southeastern Europe and Russia; unusual snowfall in
South Africa and South America.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) shows us an
early-2007 global climatic collage full of abnormalities.
Heavy rains were only a small part of what this country has been
through in the past seven months. The early-March blizzards and
summer droughts in the Northeast, rainstorms in Chongqing, Jinan in
July, tornadoes in several eastern provinces, as well as continuous
high temperatures in Shanghai and Fuzhou have rewritten a host of
local meteorological records, some centuries old.
In July alone, almost 139 million people were directly affected
by natural disasters. That was about half of the seven-month
total.
The striking coincidence between the national and international
meteorological scenes reminds us no country is an outsider in the
process of global climatic change.
The WMO is working on upgrading its extreme weather pre-warning
capabilities. So is the China Meteorological Administration (CMA).
Struck by the damaging potential of extreme weather, authorities in
victimized areas are running against time to refine emergency
response plans.
Preparedness is always crucial when disasters strike. That is
why we are in favor of a disaster awareness campaign. This is more
imperative because of the unprecedented frequency of extreme
weather events, and the expert projection that extreme weather will
be increasingly "normalized."
But preparing is not the only thing we can do about extreme
weather. We can actually contain it.
Both the WMO and the China Meteorological Administration
attributed this year's unusually frequent extreme weather to global
warming.
It is common sense now that greenhouse gas release caused by
human activities, and unrestrained human exploitation of natural
resources are the main causes of global warming.
In this sense, every country and everybody can contribute. And
every little bit we do will be of global importance.
Governments should feel ashamed when they avoid their
environmental responsibilities and point the finger to others.
(China Daily August 10, 2007)
