China's 2006 weather: Warm and disastrous

Beijing, Dec 31: China experienced its warmest year in 2006since 1951, packed with an unusually high number of natural disasters,Xinhua news agency said today, putting the blame on global warming.

Dong Wenjie, director of the Beijing Climate Centre, said therewas less rain, higher temperatures and a series of storms and typhoonsfollowed by drought.

The annual meteorological report released by the ChinaMeteorological Administration said the amount of damage was ''rare'' inthe country's history.

''Typhoons, floods and droughts claimed 2,704 lives and inflictedeconomic losses of 27 billion dollar in 2006, second only to 1998 whenan extremely severe flood swept the country,'' Xinhua quoted the reportas saying.

Every year 50 million hectares of farmland and 400 million peopleare affected by natural disasters in China with economic lossesreaching 1 to 3 per cent of gross domestic product.

Reuters