China's freak snowstorms: the new normal?

The unprecedented scale, cost, and human impacts of China’s freak month of snowstorms, its worst in 50 years, herald a need for the world to get ready for “new kinds of disasters,” according to Sálvano Briceño, Director of the secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. “So-called ‘freak weather’ is becoming more common,” says Briceño, “and reducing vulnerability to these unexpected extremes must be a top priority for governments.”