The findings are significant, because temperature and rain and snow trends in the area impact on water availability for more than 50 million Pakistanis.

Researchers focussed on the Upper Indus Basin, which is the mainstay of the national economy of Pakistan and has 170,000 sq km of irrigated land - an area two-thirds the size of the UK.

Dr Hayley Fowler, senior research associate at the university's school of civil engineering and geosciences, said: "Very little research of this kind has been carried out in this region and yet the findings from our work have implications for the water supplies of around 50 million people in Pakistan."

Water resources

Co-researcher David Archer added: "Our research is concerned with both climate change and the climate variability that is happening from year to year.

"Information on variability is more important for the management of the water system as it will help to forecast the inflow into reservoirs and allow for better planning of water use for irrigation.

"However, information on the impacts of climatic change is important for the longer term management of water resources and to help us understand what is happening in the mountains under global warming."

The findings are published in the American Meteorological Society's Journal of Climate.

Sheng released a report Saturday that found pollution from factories and power plants was rising by 9 percent a year - an embarrassment for a government that promised this year to clean up China's air. The report said sulphur dioxide emissions were double safe levels.

"Increased sulphur dioxide emissions meant that one-third of China's territory was affected by acid rain, posing a major threat to soil and food safety," Sheng said, according to the Xinhua News Agency and newspapers.

Environmental protection has become a prominent issue in China following a string of industrial accidents that poisoned major rivers, forcing several cities to shut down their water systems.

Chinese cities are among the world's smoggiest following two decades of breakneck economic growth. The government says all of China's major rivers are dangerously polluted. Millions of people lack access to clean drinking water.

On Sunday, local officials said a tanker carrying 25 tons of caustic soda had fallen Friday into the Xuefeng River in China's northwest, poisoning a drinking water source for 100,000 people.

One person was killed in the accident, Xinhua said. Officials said the water quality had returned to normal by Sunday after the government dumped 10 tons of hydrochloric acid into the water to neutralize the caustic soda, also known as sodium hydroxide.

Premier Wen Jiabao publicly criticized officials in April after the government revealed it failed to meet most of its targets over the past five years in environmental areas ranging from containing pollution to stopping the loss of farmland. Wen said officials would be held personally responsible for future environmental disasters.

The government pledged this year to cut air pollution emissions by 10 percent by 2010.

Beijing plans to spend $175 billion on environmental protection over the next five years, up 60 percent from the previous five years, according to Mao Rupai, chairman of the parliament's environmental committee.

Lawmakers are considering raising fines for environmental violators in order to encourage companies to spend more on clean technology, Mao said at a news conference on Saturday.

Mao complained that local officials fail to enforce standards for fear of hurting businesses. He said some areas comply with as few as 30 percent of environmental regulations.

"It is true that in some areas, local governments focus more on economic development than on the environment," he said. "In the future, officials will be judged not just by their economic growth but by environmental protection as well."

Florida has been hit by eight hurricanes in the past two years.

Officials in the Keys told tourists to postpone any immediate plans to travel there and ordered those already in the island chain to leave.

All travel trailers and recreational vehicles were ordered off the islands immediately. Residents were taking notice too: a Home Depot store in Key West was busy Sunday afternoon as customers shopped for generators and other storm-preparation equipment.

"We put up the storm shutters today and we're hitting the grocery store tomorrow,'' said Ben Cassis, who, along with his father-in-law, spent nearly $2,500 for a powerful generator Sunday.

The state of emergency directs counties to open their emergency management offices and activates the National Guard, among other things. Bush canceled a scheduled trip to New York on Monday, choosing to stay in Tallahassee and monitor storm developments.

Ernesto, the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, lashed Haiti and the Dominican Republic on Sunday. The storm was expected to arrive in southern Florida by early Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center said.

Tourists including Jim Rogers, of Lodi, N.J., made preparations Sunday to leave the low-lying Keys, which are connected to each other by just one highway, U.S. 1. Traffic leaving the Keys on the single evacuation route was steady but not heavy Sunday afternoon.

Rogers was part of a group of eight visiting Key Largo and had planned to stay in the Keys until Thursday or Friday. Rogers said the group now might go to Naples, but they were not going home.

"You don't know where to go. You don't know where it's going to blow,'' he said. "You don't want to be in Key West.''

Suao is a coastal city about 75 miles southeast of the capital of Taipei. The quake, which struck before dawn, was felt across the island but did not appear to cause major damage because of its distance, the bureau said.

Quakes frequently rattle the island, but most are minor and cause little or no damage. However, a magnitude-7.6 earthquake in central Taiwan in September 1999 killed more than 2,300 people.

Barmer is part of the Thar desert, which receives little rain and is prone to drought.

Stench

Officials say military helicopters have been dropping relief supplies to people stranded on sand dunes.

Naval boats are also being used to ferry people to safer places and deliver food packets and drinking water to those still cut off.

According to reports, the bodies of thousands of cattle can be seen floating in the flood waters and the stench in the area is unbearable.

Some reports say at least 50,000 animals have died.

Officials say more than 40 medical teams are distributing medicines in the affected area as the threat of an epidemic looms large.

The unprecedented floods have been caused by heavy showers over the past week.

Rail link suspended

Experts say the presence of gypsum below the sandy surface in Barmer district is preventing water from being absorbed into the ground, slowing down relief efforts.

A senior official, Lalit Panwar, told the BBC that after discussions with experts, the state government had decided to use powerful pumps to drain out the flood water.

The Munnabao-Khokrapar rail link between India and Pakistan has also been suspended as flood waters have washed away parts of the track.

A scientist in Jodhpur has told the Hindustan Times newspaper that such unusually heavy rainfall has not been recorded in the state for 200 years.