As global temperatures rise due to climate change, China’s weather agency predicts that excessive heat will continue to be felt throughout the nation this summer, according to official media on Thursday.
The country in Asia is the world’s largest producer of greenhouse gases, which scientists believe contribute to global warming and increase the frequency and severity of extreme weather events.
This summer, heat waves have already scorched large swathes of northern China, while abnormally heavy rains have caused devastating floods and landslides throughout much of the south.
State broadcaster CCTV said Thursday the China Meteorological Administration’s National Climate Centre forecasts that “air temperatures in most parts of the country will be somewhat higher… during the midsummer of this year”.
“Against the climatic backdrop of global warming, average temperatures will rise and the occurrence of high-temperature weather will tend to be frequent,” the centre said, according to CCTV.
According to the report, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Fujian, Guangdong, Gansu, and the regions of Guangxi and Ningxia would have temperatures that are one to two degrees Celsius higher than average.
It did, however, state that temperatures in the northern part of Inner Mongolia and the northeastern provinces will be quite typical.
China is the nation that releases the most carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which heats the globe, but it has promised to peak emissions by 2030 and reduce them to net zero by 2060.
While authorities frequently admit that climate change contributes to extreme weather, they hardly ever clearly link these events to national emissions, and Chinese officials have dismissed suggestions that Beijing might make more aggressive reductions.
The country saw an average of 2.6 high-temperature days — those with maximum highs of 35 C (95 degrees Fahrenheit) or above — in June, the fourth-highest figure since records began in 1961, CCTV cited the National Climate Centre as saying.
Heat records at 20 local weather stations broke historical records, the report added.
“As global warming intensifies, in recent years, high-temperature days in our country have… begun at earlier dates, occurred with increasing frequency, accumulated over longer periods, had a wider impact range and been generally stronger,” it said.
Last month, temperatures in several parts of northern China reached over 40 degrees Celsius.
And this week, rainstorms forced the powerful Yangtze and other rivers to overflow, forcing nearly a quarter of a million people to be evacuated from eastern Anhui province.
June also saw eight fatalities from a landslide in Hunan and 38 fatalities from Guangdong’s flooding and strong rainfall.
