Natural Disaster Challenges in China: Key Trends and Insights Learning from Experience: Insights from China’s Progress in Disaster Risk Management 1 Natural Disaster Challenges in China: Key Trends and Insights T Diversified types Major natural disasters in China include meteorological disasters, earthquake and geological disasters, ocean disasters, biological disasters, and forest and grassland fire. Altogether, there are over 100 types of various natural hazards. In the last few decades, almost all types of major hazards except volcanic eruptions have hit China; these include earthquakes, typhoons, floods, droughts and sandstorms, storm surges, ogether with climate change, rapid economic growth and urbanization, China’s intensifying disaster risk is putting a strain on the country’s resources, environment, and ecology. Against this backdrop, understanding and tackling disaster risk in China has never been more critical. Here are a few key trends and insights about China’s natural disaster challenges. the threat of flooding. The eastern and southern coastal regions and some inland provinces often encounter tropical cyclones. Droughts often occur in the northeast, northwest, and north China, and particularly serious ones are common in southwest and south China. Each province (autonomous regions, municipalities) has experienced destructive earthquakes that measure 5.0 or higher on the Richter scale. Of China’s territory, 69 percent is made up of mountains and plateaus, which suffers from landslides and debris flows, hailstorms, cold frequent geological disasters such as landslides, waves, heat waves, pests and rodent disease, forest debris flows, and rock collapses due to the and grassland fires, and red tides. complicated geological structure. The coastal region is prone to storm surges and red tides while Wide geographic distribution the country’s forests and grasslands are prone to All provinces (autonomous regions, fires. Half the country’s population and more than municipalities) in China are, to varying extents, 70 percent of Chinese cities are located in areas facing negative impacts from natural disasters. prone to meteorological, earthquake, geological, Two-thirds of Chinese territory suffers from and oceanic disasters. 2 Photo: eugenesergeev 3 Natural Disaster Challenges in China: Key Trends and Insights Figure 1.1. Losses from Natural Disasters in China: Direct Damages and Fatalities | 250 Direct damage (in 2018 values, losses adjusted to inflation based on China’s CPI) 10 Direct damage as a percent of GDP (%) 9 Direct damage as a percent of GDP (%) 200 8 Direct damage (billion US$) 7 150 6 5 100 4 3 50 2 1 0 0 89 93 97 20 1 20 5 91 20 9 95 13 20 9 20 3 20 7 20 1 90 15 17 94 98 02 06 92 20 96 14 00 04 08 12 16 18 0 1 0 0 0 0 9 20 20 20 20 20 19 20 20 20 19 20 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 20 20 19 20 19 10,000 Fatalities Fatalities per million people 70 9,000 60 Fatalities per million people 8,000 7,000 50 Fatalities (persons) 6,000 40 5,000 30 4,000 88,928 3,000 20 2,000 10 1,000 0 0 89 93 97 20 1 20 5 91 20 9 95 13 20 9 20 3 20 7 20 1 90 15 17 94 98 02 06 92 20 96 14 00 04 20 8 12 16 18 0 1 0 0 0 0 9 0 20 20 20 20 20 19 20 20 20 19 20 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 20 20 19 19 Learning from Experience: Insights from China’s Progress in Disaster Risk Management 4 High frequency Threats from very-large-scale China is severely affected by monsoon weather disasters and frequent meteorological disasters. Regional China has suffered significant damage from and partial droughts occur almost every year. several major large-scale disasters. Affecting 223 Around 7 tropical cyclones hit the eastern million people, the 1998 China floods claimed the coastal areas annually. Because China lies lives of 4,150 people and damaged 21.2 million right in the region where the Eurasian, Pacific, hectares of crops and 6.85 million houses. Overall, and Indian Ocean plates meet, it suffers from the disaster caused direct economic losses of 246 frequent earthquakes due to still active tectonic billion yuan (in 2018 values, or US$35 billion). movements. Most of the earthquakes that hit The 2008 magnitude 8.0 Wenchuan Earthquake China are continental; they account for one- killed 69,227 people (plus 17,923 missing) and third of destructive continental earthquakes caused 1,053 billion yuan (in 2018 values, or globally. China is a mountainous country, so US$ 159 billion) in direct economic losses. the mountainous regions and hilly areas are frequently hit by collapse, landslide and debris Increasing disaster risks flow. Fires often break out in forests and on in a changing climate grasslands. At both a global and a regional level, climate Significant loss change has increased and will continue to exacerbate the frequency and intensity of disasters Between 1989 and 2018, natural hazards caused in China. The likelihood of super typhoons and the death of 195,820 people, and direct physical intense rainfall is rising, making riverine and flash losses valued at 11,237 billion Chinese yuan floods also more likely. Droughts and heat waves (CNY, in 2018 values), or approximately US$1,698 are also projected to become more frequent and billion (in 2018 values) (Figure 1.1). The direct severe with climate change. Geological disasters damage has increased from US$47 billion in the triggered by climate extremes, such as landslides 1990s to US$65 billion in the 2010s. Since 2000, and debris, are also projected to become more 38.86 million hectares of crop have experienced frequent. Together with population growth, a yield loss of at least 10 percent from natural economic development and rapid urbanization, disasters every year, out of which 4.95 million and interregional trade integration, China is hectares were severely destroyed, representing a facing even higher disaster risks in the future; yield loss larger than 80 percent. Over the past this may also bring cascading global impacts of three decades, the average annual fatalities per increasing severity. million people has been 5 persons, while direct economic loss as a percentage of gross domestic References product (GDP) has been 2.25 percent. China Civil Affairs Statistical Yearbooks. Various years. China Statistics Press. Shi, P. J., ed. 2011. Atlas of Natural Disaster Risk of China (Chinese; English version). Beijing: Science Press.