Natural disaster cost doubles in China to $69bn in 2013

Natural disasters in China caused damage valued at US$69 billion (RMB421 billion) in 2013, Reuters reported, citing official data released on Monday. The total was double that of the previous year. China has always been prone to natural disasters but a changing climate is causing more extreme weather, which hits food production, threatens scarce water resources and damages energy security, according to the government. “In recent years, China has seen a combination of floods and droughts simultaneously, with the rain belt moving north past the Yangtze River,” said Zhu Congwen, a researcher with the China Academy of Meteorological Sciences.