About 150 meteorologists convened at a forum on Thursday in Beijing to discuss climate predictions in Asia and ways to improve the regional cooperation.

 

The Forum on Regional Climate Monitoring, Assessment and Prediction for Asia runs for three days and has attracted about 150 experts, including about 40 foreign experts from about 20 countries and research institutes.

 

They will mainly exchange predictions on the coming monsoon season from June to August and climate changes in arid and semi-arid areas in Asia.

 

The monsoon season was of particular concern as it usually brings serious natural disasters, including typhoons, rain storms and flooding, said Xu Xiaofeng, deputy director of the China Meteorological Administration (CMA).

 

The forum aims to pool information to reduce damage caused by natural disasters with improved forecasts, said Qin Dahe, director of the CMA.

 

The forum, sponsored by the CMA and the World Meteorological Organization, was first held last year and is scheduled annually.

 

(Xinhua News Agency April 7, 2006)