Most part of China feels the wrath of heavy snow and cold weather which caused travel chaos on roads and on the sea. The State Oceanic Administration (SOA) said that the worst sea ice in 30 years is threatening shipping and the livelihoods of fishermen on China’s eastern coast and the situation is expected to worsen this week, with about 40 percent of the Bohai Sea’s surface already frozen.
Warnings of sea ice have been issued by the Shandong provincial oceanic and fishery department. It is reported that Juhua Island, the largest island in Liaodong Bay, was surrounded by sea ice, which caused more than 3,200 residents on the island to face a coal and medicine shortage.
Wang Hua, deputy director of the ocean forecast and disaster relief department of the SOA said that the cold spell will freeze even more of the sea. Lin Jian, chief forecaster of the national meteorological watchdog, informed that temperatures are forecast to drop up to 22 C in parts of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and the northeast part of the country, bringing mild to heavy snow to the north and rainfall to the south.
According to China Meteorological Administration three yellow alerts have been issued, the third-highest level for gales, thick fog and cold. Minister of Transportation Li Shenglin urged maritime affairs departments at all levels to intensify monitoring of ice conditions and improve contingency measures to cope with possible emergencies.
