Transcript The possible impacts of Sichuan earthquake and other recent Asian

Wenchuan earthquake and
other recent Asian extreme
weather events
—Chinese students' reflection
Structure
Wenchuan earthquake
Tropical cyclone in
Myanmar
Snowstorm in China
students’ social
responsibility?
1. Wenchuan earthquake
14:28, 12 May, 2008
A massive 8.0magnitude earthquake
jolted Wenchuan
County of southwest
China's Sichuan
Province.
Death toll − 69,180 The missing − 17,406
The injured − 374,008
Sichuan before the earthquake
Wenchuan after the earthquake
Shattered buildings
Roadways after earthquake
Threat from the earthquake lakes
Human loss
Tears without
reflection
is just water.
Reflection on Wenchun earthquake
1. Why is the earthquake often followed by
the rain?
Release of the energy
Temperature rise
Convergence of vapor
Precipitation
Reflection on Wenchun earthquake
land-air interaction
Land
traditional– vegetation, runoff, and other land
surface processes
2.
New perspective — geophysical processes
of solid earth
The earth system model:
fluid earth + solid earth
2. Snowstorm in China
Snowstorm in China, Spring, 2008
Time: from 10 Jan 2008 to 02 Feb 2008, just before
Lunar new year, or Chinese New Year( 07 Feb),
persisting for 22 days
 Affected area: Southern, Central and Eastern China,
more than 20 provinces were afflicted by the snowstorm.
 Damages:
107 people were skilled,
223,000 houses collapsed,
1.8 million people were evacuated
18 million acres of crops were destroyed
economic loss: 111.1 billion Yuan

The power and telecommunication equipments were damaged by the ice
The power and water was cut off for about ten days in Chenzhou
Highways, Railways, Airports are closed for many days
Stranded people in Guangzhou Railway Station, before Lunar New Year
The possible weather and climate attributes
AO Positive
Phase
Stable NH
Circulation
Ural Mt. BH
Siberia Cold
Air Invade
Active
Southern BT
WH Air from
Southwest
Stably
Subtropical
High
AO: Arctic Oscillation
NH: Northern Hemisphere
BH: Blocking High
BT: Branched Trough
WH: Warm-Humid
Warm
Warm and
and Cold
Cold Air
Air
Converged
Converged Over
Over the
the
Middle
Middle and
and Lower
Lower
Reaches
Reaches of
of the
the
Yangtze
Yangtze River
River and
and Its
Its
Southern
Southern Regions
Regions
The impact of La Nina event
Figure from http://www.cpc.noaa.gov
3. Tropical cyclone in Myanmar
Tropical Cyclone in Myanmar
May 2, 2008
Tropical Cyclone Nargis
made landfall on the
south-western coast of
Burma on as a Category
3 storm with winds of up
to 210 km/hr.
Influence of the Tropical Cyclone
great damage
Houses of a village
are destroyed by
winds
shortage of
clean drinking
water
Schematic depiction of Tropical Cyclone
Air-Sea Interaction
Tropical air-sea interaction,
i.e. the exchange of energy,
momentum and mass across
the sea-air surface, is crucial
in global climate system.
Especially, the air-sea
interaction in the joining area
of Asia and Indian-Pacific
Ocean is the key factor to
understand the weather and
climate in Asian domain.
Tibetan
Plateau
Asian
Continent
Western Pacific
Indian
Maritime warm pool
warm pool continent
Impacts of Global Warming ?
There is observational evidence of an increase in intense
tropical cyclone activity in the North Atlantic since about
1970s, with limited evidence of increases elsewhere.
(From IPCC AR4)
Is it true? What are the impacts of global warming in the
future weather and climate ?
4. Students’ social responsibility
General reflection on these
extreme events
Confidence for the
changeable nature
Current proper
effort
Hope in the future
1. Popularize the science and
knowledge more effectively

Science should not be possessed only by
the scientists.
New science popularization

“Disaster survival” should become
common knowledge like “wash your hands
before you eat”.
1. Popularize the science and
knowledge more effectively
Japan is one of the most earthquakeWhat
kindsinofthe
disasters
are most
unavoidable?
prone
areas
world. The
recent
We, young researchers, should play
major quake
in Japan
killed
more than
important
roles
in
science
What
kinds in
ofthe
disasters
are
predictable?
6,400
people
city
of
Kobe
popularization. in January
1995.
How to deal with different disasters?
 Japanese has been well informed of the
knowledge of the earthquake.

2. The joint efforts are needed in
disaster alleviation
Disaster alleviation
Joint efforts of all
science disciplines
Secondary disaster
prevention
2. The joint efforts are needed in
disaster alleviation
Before the Storm
After the Storm
Migration of storm
Great challenge for infrastructure
once 50
years


once 100
years
Many infrastructures paralyzed in the extreme weathers.
To alleviate natural disasters, it is very crucial and urgent
to enhance the design standard of main infrastructures
to the safe enough level. The architects should have
interaction with meteorologists and the design should
consider the suggestion from the climate researchers
in the future.
Adaptation to climate disasters

Scientific comprehension (software)
Psychological preparation (society and
individual)
 Emergence mechanism (government)


Support from scientific technology
(hardware)
Monitoring, prediction and succor (short-term)
 Infrastructure (long-term)

There is a long way to go.
We are together!
Taipei China
Japan
promote the communication and develop friendship
among Asian students of atmospheric sciences
Korea
Thank you!