Pak floods, Russia heat, China & Leh floods fit climate trend 11/08/2010-

11/08/2010

Pak floods, Russia heat, China & Leh floods fit climate trend

Oslo: The simultaneous catastrophes of flooding in Pakistan, wildfires in Russia and landslides in China and unprecedented rains in Leh are evidence that global warming predictions are correct, according to climate change experts.



People take refuge from floods on top of a mosque in Pakistan.

This year is on track to be the warmest since reliable temperature records began in the mid-19th century, beating 1998, mainly due to a build-up of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels, according to the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO).



A woman yells as her child is evacuated from the roof of a mosque where residents are taking refuge from flood waters in Sanawa, Pakistan.

"We'll always have climate extremes. It looks like climate change is exacerbating the intensity of the extremes," said Omar Baddour, chief of climate data management applications at WMO headquarters in Geneva.

"It is too early to point to a human fingerprint" behind individual weather events, he said.



Flood victims used a wheel barrow to salvage belongings from their destroyed village in Pabbi, Pakistan.

Recent extremes include mudslides in China and heat records from Finland to Kuwait -- adding to evidence of a changing climate even as UN negotiations on a new global treaty for costly cuts in greenhouse gas emissions have stalled.



Firefighters work to extinguish fire standing next to a burning building outside the town of Vyksa, Russia.

Reinsurer Munich Re said a natural catastrophe database it runs "shows that the number of extreme weather events like windstorm and floods has tripled since 1980, and the trend is expected to persist".



People walk past Moscow Kremlin shrouded in smog, August 4, 2010.

The worst floods in Pakistan in 80 years have killed more than 1,600 people and left 2 million homeless. "Global warming is one reason" for the rare spate of weather extremes, said Friedrich-Wilhelm Gerstengarbe, a professor at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

He pointed to the heatwave and related forest fires in Russia, floods in Pakistan, rains in China and downpours in Europe.



Chinese residents search a partially collapsed building for survivors after Sunday's mud slide swept into the town of Zhouqu in northwestern China.

Flooding in China has killed more than 1,100 people this year and caused tens of billions of dollars in damage across 28 provinces and regions. Flash floods in France and Eastern Europe have killed more than 30 people over the summer.



Chinese rescue workers prepare to search for survivors after a mudslide swept through the town of Zhouqu in northwestern China.

The mudslide hit Zhouqu County in Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Gannan early Sunday, Xinhua reported. Some 4,443 tents have reached the affected area but most of them have not yet been set up due to lack of open space.



J and K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah inspects the damage caused by a flash floods in Leh on Monday. PTI Photo

In Leh, at least 103 people confirmed dead in flash floods on Thursday night. A series of cloudbursts in this Himalayan pocket prompted the floods that have caused heavy damage to life, infrastructure and property in the area.



Army personnel carrying out rescue and relief work among rubbles of damaged houses after Friday's devastating flash floods, triggered by cloudbursts, in Leh on Sunday.

Stunned locals are still trying to come to terms with the tragedy that hit Leh. The floods razed important buildings and washed away homes as people desperately tried to escape.

Shocked tourists made a beeline for the airport to leave the town at the earliest.

Source: Business Standard, India Syndicate

Images: Reuters, AP, PTI