In a country where tens of millions of people live in abject poverty, it seems a luxury to launch eight satellites, or about 10 percent of the country's satellite fleet, for nothing but weather service.

And back on earth, China has installed 118 deluxe Doppler radars since 1999, the most extensive "new-generation weather radar network" after the United States.

The huge cost of such operations may prompt one to think of these as unnecessary wastes.

But not when we consider that extreme weather, including floods, storms and droughts cause direct economic losses of at least 200 billion yuan ($25.6 billion) and damage more than 33.3 million hectares of farmland a year. Extreme weather saps between 2 to 5 percent from the country's gross domestic product (GDP), deputy chief of the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) Zheng Guoguang said yesterday.

At least 2,704 people died and millions were rendered homeless in climate-related disasters last year, the worst since 1998, according to official statistics.

China has made meteorology a part of serving public welfare to mitigate such losses.

The seemingly luxurious investment makes perfect sense when we consider China's need to deal with natural disasters, hence the central government's priority on meteorological service, Zheng said.

"We plan to install 40 more Doppler radars across the country, and send another polar orbiting satellite capable of taking shots in higher resolutions and with better observation capacity this year to upgrade our weather service."

The cost of a sophisticated satellite is high, Zheng said, but even a Doppler radar costs at least 30 million yuan ($3.85 million).

"Unlike some other countries, meteorological agencies at various levels in China are under the dual leadership of the CMA and central and local governments," Zheng said. "They need to play a key role in tackling natural disasters."

For example, apart from accurately forecasting the strong storms in East China's Fujian and Zhejiang provinces last year, meteorologists were part of government emergency response teams to keep the public well informed of weather conditions and help at least 3.5 million residents evacuate to safety, he said.

Satellites beamed more than 5,000 pictures, and meteorological bureaus induced artificial rain to help control the forest fires in northern China in May and June, he said.

"Were it not for weather services, at least 2,000 people would have fallen victim to natural disasters."

Weather services contribute to public security, too, because meteorological stations are responsible for monitoring the spread of poisonous gases and other pollutants, he said.

He said that immediately after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea conducted a nuclear test on October 9 last year, Chinese weather stations near the border prepared a report, concluding the fallout from the blast would not affect China thanks to westerly winds on the day.

Source: China Daily