Meteorological Office, Pune-411 005

Natural disasters like floods, tornadoes, tropicalcyclones, heat and cold wavewreak havoc and cause tremendous loss ofproperty all over the world. Most ofthe natural disasters are either dueto weather or are triggered due toweather related processes.Extreme weather events claimed thousands oflives and caused damage on vastscale. Recent super cyclone which affectedOrissa in 1999, Bangladesh cyclone of1970 and Hurricane Andrew in 1992 areexamples of some of the more damagingtropical cyclones which affected developingas well as the developed world. Heatand cold waves are also extreme events,which cause enormous losses in terms oflives lost and human discomfort and ailmentsarising out of them. The heat waveof 1995 and 1998 are still fresh in the mindof the Indian public. The estimated lossof human lives due to heat wave in 1998 was morethan 15,000. Economic losses asa result of these disasters and in particular inassociation with tropical cyclones haveincreased enormously over the last three decades.During 1961–1991, total loss oflives from drought alone was 1,333,728 overthe whole world. In terms of economiclosses, there is 8–10 fold increase from thebase figure of 1960. The socio-economicimpact of natural disaster is complex dependingupon the vulnerability of the placeand mitigation strategies that are put in place.Meteorology plays a crucial role in forewarningpeople about the severe/extremeweather systems and a constant endeavour by themeteorological services worldover has gone a long way towards minimizing thelosses caused by natural disasters.The paper summarises the natural disasterstatistics over south Asia and the possibleprediction strategies for combating theirsocio-economic impacts.     

中国热带近百年气候波动与灾害

The temperature appeared rising trend during the 20th century in China's tropics.Two cooling stages and two warming stages in the process of climatic fluctuation can be recognized.After the 1980s the climate is the warmest which corresponds to the global change,but the warmest period is the 1940s in Kunming.The climate pattern mostly appears contemporaneity of warming and humidity,which is different from the situation of whole China.The natural disasters tend to be aggravated.The number of typhoons increased.Flood damages occurred frequently in the years of more typhoons.The number of droughts and cold damages increased.It was snowed in Guangzhou.There was frost in Haikou and Yaxian.Four years of heavy snow have been recorded in Kunming.     

2003年9月19日陕西暴雨分析

利用太原地区发生的798个地质灾害个例和汛期降水资料,从地质环境背景着手,在地理信息系统(MAPGIS)支持下,对太原地质灾害危险性区划和诱发因素进行了系统研究。提出了精细的地质环境概率量化评价方法,得出了地质灾害影响因素的重要结论。建立了地质灾害预报模型,制定了预报等级标准和预报规则。经业务试验,预报结果与实况基本吻合。     

2003年2月14日新疆石河子南5.0和5.4级地震灾害减轻因素的分析

2003年2月14日新疆石河子南发生了5．0和5．4级地震。地震发生在北天山石场东南高山区内，位于亚马特断裂与斜切天山的博罗科努断裂所夹持断块的南缘。地震仅对石河子南山矿区所属的红沟煤矿、小沟煤矿与沙湾县煤矿等50、60年代建造的部分危房造成了轻微的破坏，大部分地区的房屋基本完好。造成地震灾害减轻的主要原因为多条断裂的隔震作用与居民点位于山区较平缓地带、场地条件较好等因素。     

发挥地震学会优势促进防震减灾工作--关于加强山西省地震学会管理工作的几点思考

随着我国机构改革的不断深入和社会主义市场经济体制的逐步建立和完善，地震学会同其他社会团体一样将成为现代社会的支柱之一。以山西省地震学会目前的工作现状为例，指出学会在管理体制、运行机制和活动方式等方面存在的问题，提出了发展思路及建议。     

试论实施防震减灾社会动员的途径与方法

0前言中国是一个多地震国家,频繁而严重的地震灾害给人民生命和财产带来了巨大的损失,防震减灾任务任重而道远。回良玉副总理2004年在全国防震减灾工作会议讲话中指出:“防震减灾是全社会共同的责任,要广泛动员社会各方的力量,积极投入到这项事业中来,使防震减灾逐步成为全社会的自觉行动。”因此,总结近40年我国防震减灾工作和改革开放的实践经验,对社会公众进行各种防震减灾宣传教育,广泛动员全社会力量,建立健全防震减灾社会动员机制,增强全社会防震减灾意识,是提高我国综合防震减灾能力,有效地促进地震灾害综合防御各项措施落实的重要途…     

我国地震海浪初步分析

总结了我国地震海浪的25次记录,在做初步分析后认为我国的地震海浪多由近海海洋地震引起,其多发地区为渤海沿岸与东南沿海一带.随着对沿海地区开发的深入,这类记载逐渐增多,受灾程度加大.另外分析了在社会历史变迁中,国家对海洋的开发政策、沿海开发下城市近海地理位置、沿海港口及海洋贸易的规模与地震海浪受灾程度之间的关系.     

Analysis of village accessibility and its impact on land use dynamics in a mountainous province of northern Vietnam

Surveys carried out in mountainous areas of northern Vietnam at research sites selected across a gradient of market integration, revealed strong relationships between the location of the village with respect to the national road network and the nature of its land-use systems, its poverty level and more generally its potential for development. We developed and tested in Bac Kan province a method to give an objective and quantitative definition of accessibility over a large geographic area. Accessibility maps integrated in a provincial GIS showed that despite recent improvements to the road network, some remote areas do not benefit from recent development.     

DZ-1型地质灾害土层含水量监测仪系统的研究与应用

高强度降雨和岩土层含水量过高是山体滑坡等地质灾害的主要诱因，为了更好地对这类地质灾害进行有效预测预报，研制了DZ-1型地质灾害土层含水量监测仪，介绍了该监测仪的工作原理、主要构成、技术性能、监测工艺技术及实际应用效果。     

Ageing,migration and familial support in rural China

Accelerated by economic reforms, a large scale migration of younger workers from rural to urban China has taken place since the 1990s. This has separated many adult children from their ageing parents and imposed significant challenges on traditional patterns of familial support for rural older people. These challenges are augmented by the fact that in rural China the elderly have been deprived a state pension and other welfare provisions available to urban residents.Drawing upon qualitative data from a project on ageing in rural China, this article examines the agency of older people and their families in responding to geographical separation resulting from the migration of the economically active to the cities. Through 32 life history interviews with multiple generations of nine households in one rural village, this article sheds light on the resilience and flexibility of rural households which have experienced migration and highlights the webs of interdependence that feature in the daily strategies of householding. It shows how members of the household across different geographical locations worked together to build and maintain the collective welfare of the family. In particular, this article argues that it would be over simplistic to suggest that migration is always detrimental to the older generation who stay behind. Contrary to assumptions in some migration studies and ageing literature in China, it shows that it is the breakdown of the webs of interdependence and reciprocity rather than the event of migration that will have inevitable negative effects upon old age care for the seniors in the household. Further, while highlighting the significance of householding, this article reveals the internal dynamics within a household. It identifies the role of gender in daily householding and suggests that the caring, supportive and kin-keeping roles performed mainly by women played a critical role in ensuring social and physical reproduction across generations. The article finds that while daughters took over some responsibilities which were traditionally expected from their brothers and sisters-in-law in old age support, the persistence of gendered practices and traditions in rural villages allowed sons more symbolic status and material benefits.