The nation is bracing for a (higher) risk of more extreme weather as a trend toward increasing weather-related disasters has been (recorded) since the 1990s, top weather experts have said.

"Extreme weather will be more (frequent) in the future due to the instability of the atmosphere, and global warming might be the (indirect) cause," He Lifu, the top weather forecaster at the China Meteorological Administration [CMA], told China Daily.

The nation is (bracing) for a higher risk of more extreme weather as a trend toward increasing weather-related disasters has been recorded (since) the 1990s, top weather experts have said.

"Extreme weather will be more frequent in the future (due to) the instability of the atmosphere, and global (warming) might be the indirect cause," He Lifu, the top weather forecaster at the China Meteorological Administration [CMA], told China Daily.

 "The scope of (drought) has been expanding over the past years, with drought becoming more severe in the north and even (spreading) to the humid southern and eastern regions," it said.

Zhang Jiatuan, director of the drought (relief) division at the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, said grain loss caused by drought has (averaged) 37.28 million tons each year since 2000, almost twice that for the 1980s.

The annual average proportion of drought-damaged (crops) in the country jumped from 48 percent in the 1990s to about 59.3 (percent) since 2000.

The perceived rise in (freak) weather events in China coincided with last week's annual Red Cross report, which said a global trend toward increasing weather-related disasters was (confirmed) in 2008.

The (International) Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies [IFRC] said the number of people reported killed by (natural) disasters last year - 235,736 - was surpassed only in 2004, the year of the Indian Ocean tsunami, with (damage) of more than $181 billion. 

"We also see a confirmation of the (trend) that we've seen in the past decade of a rise in weather-related disasters, which is concerning us and putting an additional (strain) on our operations," said Maarten van Aalst, an author of the report.

"In the 1990s, we saw an average of about 200 (natural) weather-related disasters per year. In the past decade, that's been an (average) of about 350. Last year, we had 297, which is ... still well above what we've been used to in the past."

This month alone, freak weather such as (intense) storms and strong gales hit most parts of the country. Anhui was hit (twice), on June 3 and 14, with 37 people dead and nearly 5 million victims.

Since last Wednesday, many provinces in north China have been (hit) by scorching heat, with the temperature reaching at least 35 C. The temperature in some (regions) in north Hebei province even hit 40 C.

Question)
1. What should the government do to solve the weather disaster problem?
2. What caused the unusual climate?