Extreme weather ahead for Yangtze basin

• Source: Global Times
• [02:58 November 11 2009]
• Comments

But Xu told the Global Times that the WWF couldn't prove whether the current severe drought in South China was somehow related to the dam.

Based on the research on water resources distribution along the central route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, the rainfall in the Hanjiang River in Shaanxi Province will drop by 7 percent in the next 50 years.

"It means we need to pay more importance to whether the climate change will effect the project's functions and structure stability in the future," said Ma Chaode, an expert from WWF.

Experts called for measures to tackle the problems caused by climate change.

Specific measures including using clean energy and power, improving transportation network to ease congestion, and river dike reinforcement, should be implemented.

"It doesn't need additional cost. If we take the right steps from now on, the measures will yield results," Xu said.

Authorities should consider economic, technological, and social needs of the nation when implementing the measures, he added.

Yin Weilun, chancellor of Beijing Forestry University, said the report is a reference tool for both technical researchers and decision makers.

"Energy saving and emission reduction strategy are not enough," he said.

Yin called for measures to improve the production of forests, balance the ecosystem and enrich ecological products.

"It is still a long way to go," he said.