Top meteorological official warns of climate change risks

A top Chinese meteorological official has warned that the increase of extreme weather in recent years is related to climate change and the country is facing rising risk.

Zheng Guoguang, head of China Meteorological Administration, said China had a higher magnitude of climate change than the global level, according to a recent report run by the Study Times, a weekly newspaper operated by the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Zheng said China's average surface temperature rose by 1.38 degrees Celsius in the past 60 years, or 0.23 degrees every ten years, almost double that of the global level.

He suggested China deal with climate change as an issue of national security to boost China's sustainable development.

Zheng said rise of extreme weather in China such as typhoons, floods, droughts, heavy rain, hail and heat waves in recent years are "highly connected" to climate change.

Zheng also warned climate change is increasingly threatening the safety and stability of major projects such as the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the power grid, the Three Gorges Dam, south-to-north water diversion project and other energy and ecology projects.

Such risks may also affect their operation efficiency, economical benefits, technical standards and construction, Zheng said without going into specifics.

He said climate change also added to the difficulty of China's fight against hazardous air quality.

Zheng said China is facing an uphill battle against climate change and in its push for energy conservation and emission reduction. Endi