China’s Snow Storms Not Climate Change – Scientists

Snow storms in China that have killed more than 60 people are not directly linked to climate change, say scientists, but simply an extreme event caused by very cold winter temperatures and a La Nina weather pattern.

La Nina has brought moist air over southern China at a time of very cold winter temperatures, resulting in heavy snow falls, said Chinese weather experts.
“This is mainly related to abnormal atmospheric circulation and the La Nina event,” Dong Wenjie of the National Climate Centre told the official People’s Daily.

“The National Climate Centre predicts that this La Nina event will continue at least up to summer 2008 at a medium to strong level,” Dong said. “With climate warming, extreme weather events are clearly increasing in frequency and intensity.”

The worst snows in 50 years in southern China have hit as tens of millions of people attempt to return home to celebrate the Lunar New Year with families.

Australian climate scientist Penny Whetton, one of the authors of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) fourth assessment report, said the Chinese explanation for the storms was valid, adding the bad weather was not linked to climate change.

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