In the context of global warming, is the frequency of major natural disasters increasing?
The simple answer is yes. As the climate changes, extreme events are becoming more frequent on average. Of course, disasters are usually associated with man-made conditions, even in the case of weather events. For instance, as more people live close to the coast, more people become exposed to hurricanes, and a disaster is more likely even without climate change. Adding climate change on top of man-made circumstance simply increases the likelihood of a serious disaster. 4. What are the potential lessons to be learned for China from extreme weather events that seem to be increasing in frequency? The most important lesson China can take from this event is that climate change has real and potentially severe costs. It is true that the US and Europe are responsible for most of the greenhouse gases currently in the atmosphere. However, given its current path of development, China will be the largest single contributor to greenhouse gases added to the atmosphere in the future and will therefor
