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), according to the National Bureau of Statistics of China. The costs in 2011 and 2012 were just 260 billion and 220 billion 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 Lisa Alexander 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. "And in tandem with that there's an increase in extreme heat."
Economic growth is also a factor, says John Moore of Beijing Normal University in China. "Things 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't be."
China's National Development and Reform Commission released a report in 2013, outlining how it will adapt to climate change. Their plans are hazy, but include more monitoring and early warning. "China has had a focus on trying to evaluate what trends there are in extreme events," says Moore.
This article will appear in print under the headline "Climate of disaster"
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