Latest comments posted about Understanding extreme weather in China on ChinaDialogue en-gb http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/1765-Understanding-extreme-weather-in-China- http://staging.chinadialogue.net/images/cdlogo.gif http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/1765-Understanding-extreme-weather-in-China- Adapting to the forthcoming climate system change is more effective in solving the problems caused by climate change than merely depending on reducing emissions. Many people believe that if we can bring down emissions, we will be able to regain the climate system that we already got used to. However, is this true? We may have to go through decades or hundreds of years until the emissions of carbon dioxide can be reduced to our satisfactory level. And there is a possibility that we might lost our previous climate system forever because of different activities of mankind and varies changes in nature during all these years----agricultural areas were not suitable for farming, and the beach were flooded and could not be reformed in time----the sceneries that we are not familiar with. Therefore, rather than merely focus on reduction of emissions, more attention should be given to how to make it adaptable to the change of the coming climate system. Disasters like Snowstorms that struck the southern part of china last year may happen a lot in the future, should reducing emissions be effective enough to tackle all the problems that come along? The answer is no, not even close. Tue, 11 Mar 2008 03:14:21 -0400 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1765#comment-7128 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1765#comment-7128 Despite the advancement of science and technology, I have found that mankind has become ever more vulnerable. When I was a small child, I was never afraid of electricity failure or lack of tap water, as we could survive on river water and bonfire. However, any unexpected interruption today, if it lasts for days, will pose serious threat to our survival. If mains-water supply fails, where can we obtain drinking water? If electricity is cut off, how can we cook? What would happen, if heating fails? Wed, 05 Mar 2008 21:32:11 -0500 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1765#comment-7111 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1765#comment-7111 The most important task for us is to protect our environment - says Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. Snow disaster and SARS are lessons we should learn from. Wed, 05 Mar 2008 06:08:38 -0500 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1765#comment-7110 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1765#comment-7110 For Chinese government, this snowstorm may be a blessing in disguise. Despite the human casualties and property loss caused by the snow chaos, it showed to us that China lacks proper capacity to deal with extreme weather events, or broadly speaking, adapt to climate change. This time the snowstorm struck prosperous and developed areas where the local governments are largely well equipped to deal with the condition, yet the impact is still enormous. Had it hit underdeveloped regions, the loss and impact could be even worse. The proposal for diversifying energy supply by the Pew Center is just part of the plan for climate change response. Chinese government has worked out some clear vision and targets for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. It needs to step up its effort in climate change adaptation, which will be the focus of climate cooperation between developing countries in the future. Wed, 05 Mar 2008 05:56:07 -0500 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1765#comment-7109 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1765#comment-7109