Exploring the Relationship between Rising Temperatures and the Number of Climate-Related Natural Disasters in China

Warming has strongly influenced the quantity and variability of natural disasters around the globe. This study aims to characterize the varying patterns between rising temperatures and climate-related natural disasters in China from 1951 to 2010. We examined the overall trend in the patterns of an 1...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mingan Zhu, Bihang Fan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-01-01
Series:International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/2/745
id doaj-52abdcd33df1403b8053a94f13e3b23d
record_format Article
spelling doaj-52abdcd33df1403b8053a94f13e3b23d2021-01-17T00:03:35ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health1661-78271660-46012021-01-011874574510.3390/ijerph18020745Exploring the Relationship between Rising Temperatures and the Number of Climate-Related Natural Disasters in ChinaMingan Zhu0Bihang Fan1State Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering, College of Water Resource and Hydropower, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering, College of Water Resource and Hydropower, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, ChinaWarming has strongly influenced the quantity and variability of natural disasters around the globe. This study aims to characterize the varying patterns between rising temperatures and climate-related natural disasters in China from 1951 to 2010. We examined the overall trend in the patterns of an 11-year cycle, and climate-related natural disaster responses to periods of rising and dropping temperature. We used Morlet wavelet analysis to determine the length of a temperature cycle period, and the arc elasticity coefficient to assess the number of climate-related natural disasters in response to the changing temperature. We found that: (1) the overall relationship between temperature and the number of climate-related natural disasters was positive; (2) however, on the cycle level, the pattern of climate-related natural disasters was found to be independent of temperature variation; (3) on the rise-drop level, temperature increases were associated with declines in the number of climate-related natural disasters. Moreover, as temperature decreased, the number of climate-related natural disasters increased substantially, such that temperature had a more considerable influence on the quantity of climate-related natural disasters during the temperature-drop period. Findings in this study can help enhance the dissemination of warning and mitigation efforts to combat natural disasters in the changing climate.https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/2/745climate changedisaster mitigationelasticity coefficienttime seriesvarying patternswavelet analysis
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Mingan Zhu
Bihang Fan
spellingShingle Mingan Zhu
Bihang Fan
Exploring the Relationship between Rising Temperatures and the Number of Climate-Related Natural Disasters in China
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
climate change
disaster mitigation
elasticity coefficient
time series
varying patterns
wavelet analysis
author_facet Mingan Zhu
Bihang Fan
author_sort Mingan Zhu
title Exploring the Relationship between Rising Temperatures and the Number of Climate-Related Natural Disasters in China
title_short Exploring the Relationship between Rising Temperatures and the Number of Climate-Related Natural Disasters in China
title_full Exploring the Relationship between Rising Temperatures and the Number of Climate-Related Natural Disasters in China
title_fullStr Exploring the Relationship between Rising Temperatures and the Number of Climate-Related Natural Disasters in China
title_full_unstemmed Exploring the Relationship between Rising Temperatures and the Number of Climate-Related Natural Disasters in China
title_sort exploring the relationship between rising temperatures and the number of climate-related natural disasters in china
publisher MDPI AG
series International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
issn 1661-7827
1660-4601
publishDate 2021-01-01
description Warming has strongly influenced the quantity and variability of natural disasters around the globe. This study aims to characterize the varying patterns between rising temperatures and climate-related natural disasters in China from 1951 to 2010. We examined the overall trend in the patterns of an 11-year cycle, and climate-related natural disaster responses to periods of rising and dropping temperature. We used Morlet wavelet analysis to determine the length of a temperature cycle period, and the arc elasticity coefficient to assess the number of climate-related natural disasters in response to the changing temperature. We found that: (1) the overall relationship between temperature and the number of climate-related natural disasters was positive; (2) however, on the cycle level, the pattern of climate-related natural disasters was found to be independent of temperature variation; (3) on the rise-drop level, temperature increases were associated with declines in the number of climate-related natural disasters. Moreover, as temperature decreased, the number of climate-related natural disasters increased substantially, such that temperature had a more considerable influence on the quantity of climate-related natural disasters during the temperature-drop period. Findings in this study can help enhance the dissemination of warning and mitigation efforts to combat natural disasters in the changing climate.
topic climate change
disaster mitigation
elasticity coefficient
time series
varying patterns
wavelet analysis
url https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/2/745
work_keys_str_mv AT minganzhu exploringtherelationshipbetweenrisingtemperaturesandthenumberofclimaterelatednaturaldisastersinchina
AT bihangfan exploringtherelationshipbetweenrisingtemperaturesandthenumberofclimaterelatednaturaldisastersinchina
_version_ 1724335659099881472