- Title: CHINA: China's ice town of Harbin feels the heat of climate change
- Date: 14th January 2008
- Summary: (L!2) HARBIN CITY, HEILONGJIANG PROVINCE, CHINA (JANUARY 4, 2008) (REUTERS) YIN XUEMIAN, SENIOR METEOROLOGIST AT THE HEILONGJIANG METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY, WORKING IN HER OFFICE YIN LOOKING AT TV SCREEN TV SCREEN WITH PICTURES SHOWING WEATHER REPORTS (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) YIN XUEMIAN, SENIOR METEOROLOGIST AT THE HEILONGJIANG METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY, SAYING: "In the
- Embargoed: 29th January 2008 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: China
- Country: China
- Topics: Environment / Natural World,Lifestyle
- Reuters ID: LVAELFG6K10H6BYXU60A5L9WK51O
- Story Text: Harbin is no longer a winter wonderland. The recent years' economic development has brought the city wealth, pollution, an overwhelming amount of cars and a rapidly rising temperature.
Located in northeastern China's Heilongjiang Province, Harbin is known as one of China's coldest cities. The ice lantern festival and snow sculpture show had been going on for 24 years. It has helped Harbin collect hundreds of thousands of U.S. dollars from tourists flocking in from all around the world.
But this town of ice is now sweating hard from global warming.
In Harbin's Zhaolin Park, sculptors gather for the annual ice sculpting contest. The contest gives participants three days to carve, chip and sculpt.
This year, a Malaysian participant who has been taking part in this contest for six years said the weather was getting too warm for this competition.
"We are worried about it because our sculptures are very intricate. So we are worried that the thing will collapse. We tried to re-adjust a little bit," said the Malaysian participant.
Chinese scientists have warned that climate change is hurting the most famous draw in the northern city of Harbin -- its annual ice sculpture contest.
Average annual temperatures in the city perched on the edge of Siberia hit 6.6 degrees Celsius (44 Fahrenheit) last year, the highest average on the record and the ice sculptures are feeling the heat.
"I lived in Hong Kong for more than ten years and in Canada for more than 30 years. I think the weather has been changing all the time. When I first got to Canada, it was so cold. But now, it's getting much warmer. Maybe slowly, Vancouver will become Hong Kong." An overseas Chinese Canadian said.
Yin Xuemian, senior meteorologist at the Heilongjiang Meteorological Observatory, has been watching the climate change closely for over 40 years.
"In the beginning of December 2002, ice lanterns in Harbin melted right after they were sculpted. What came out of the work was sweaty ice sculptures. Same thing happened in 2006. Lots of money and energy were spent on redoing the sculptures' makeup. As the temperature rises, the period of ice and snow activities have shortened dramatically," Yin said.
China has blamed global warming for growing water shortages around the country that have been taking their toll on rice cultivation. Climate change is also shrinking the country's high altitude glaciers.
Despite the changes in temperatures and patterns of drought and flooding around the country, China, which is on track to overtake the United States as the world's top emitter of carbon dioxide, has resisted setting firm caps on its emissions growth.
Instead, it says rich countries must take the lead in fighting climate change and do more to transfer clean-energy technologies to the developing world.
Far from the global debates about how to curb climate change, participants in Harbin's festival have more immediate concerns, how to keep their creations from melting. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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