IT IS a heavy price to pay. China paid out twice as much to mop up after natural disasters in 2013 as it did in either of the previous two years. The rising costs are partly down to climate change.
Earthquakes, floods, droughts, snow storms and other disasters cost China over 420 billion yuan ($69 billion), . The costs in 2011 and 2012 were just and yuan, respectively. Payouts for five kinds of disaster increased in 2013 compared with 2012.
Climate change has left its calling card in some of those disasters, says of the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. Drought is increasing in parts of China, as is severe rainfall that causes flooding and mudslides. 鈥淎nd in tandem with that there鈥檚 an increase in extreme heat.鈥�
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聯Drought is increasing, as is severe rainfall that causes floods, and there鈥檚 an increase in extreme heat聰
Economic growth is also a factor, says of Beijing Normal University in China. 鈥淭hings cost a hell of a lot more because more high-value things are being built in recent times and sometimes possibly in places where they shouldn鈥檛 be.鈥�
China鈥檚 National Development and Reform Commission released a report in 2013, . Their plans are hazy, but include more monitoring and early warning. 鈥淐hina has had a focus on trying to evaluate what trends there are in extreme events,鈥� says Moore.
This article will appear in print under the headline 鈥淐limate of disaster鈥�
