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According to official media, authorities in China reported the country’s warmest August since records started, following an extremely strong summer heatwave that burnt crops, dried rivers, and sparked localised blackouts. Southern China had one of the world’s worst heat waves last month, with temperatures in areas of Sichuan province and the megacity of Chongqing reaching far above 40 degree Celsius or 104 Fahrenheit for days.
Key takeaways
- China had its warmest August on record, with a scorching heat wave that burnt crops, dried rivers, and blackouts.
- Southern China sweltered in what experts claimed was one of the most severe heat waves in recorded history, with parts of Sichuan province. The megacity of Chongqing is seeing a streak of August days with temperatures well above 40 degree Celsius.
- The monthly average temperature was 22.4 degrees, 1.2 degrees higher than usual. In addition, 267 weather stations matched or broke global temperature records. The high heat has forced numerous provinces to implement power outages.
- It also marked China’s 3rd driest August on documentation, with 23.1 per cent less rain than usual.
China Logs Hottest August Since Records Began
- According to official media, China has had its warmest August on record following an extremely strong summer heat wave which dried rivers, burnt crops, and caused localised blackouts.
- Last month, southern China had some of the worst increasing temperatures in recorded history, with parts of Sichuan province and the megacity of Chongqing experiencing days with degrees well above 40 degrees Celsius.
- According to the country’s weather office, the normal temperature countrywide in August was 22.4 degrees Celsius, 1.2 degrees Celsius higher than usual.
- According to the data, 267 meteorological stations throughout the country matched or beat temperature records last month.
- It also marked China’s third-driest Aug on record, with 23.1 per cent less rain.
Wretched Heatwaves
According to official broadcaster CCTV, quoting the country’s meteorological agency, the normal temperature nationwide in August was 22.4 degrees Celsius, 1.2 degrees Celsius higher than usual. Last month, temperatures at 267 meteorological sites around the country equalled or beat records, according to the report. It was also China’s third-driest August on record, having average precipitation of 23.1 percent less than normal. “The average number of extremely hot days was unusually high, and regional rising temperature activities are still affecting our country,” the meteorological service said, according to CCTV.
Serious Threat
To increase the power shortage, Chongqing and the eastern megacity of Shanghai switched off outdoor ornamental lights. Simultaneously, officials in Sichuan ordered factory power cuts as water levels at critical hydroelectric plants fell. According to local officials, drought poses a “severe threat” to this year’s harvest. Hence, the central government authorised billions of yuan in rice farmer subsidies.
“It is a serious warning for us,” said Zhang Daquan, a top official at China’s National Climate Centre, in statements published on Monday by the state-run People’s Daily newspaper.
Zhang claims that creating societal awareness is vital to coping with Changes in the climate. Hence make every effort to reduce sociological and economic consequences and losses.
The Economic Damage
Extreme heat in July alone generated an economic loss of $400 million, as per data from China’s emergency ministry, impacting 5.5 million people. According to local officials, drought poses a “severe threat” to this year’s harvest. Hence, the national government approved millions of yuan in rice farmer subsidies.
Coal Boost
As per scientists, a rapid decrease in global CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions is required to avoid possibly devastating global warming and its accompanying climatic repercussions. China, the world’s largest producer of greenhouse gases, has committed to peak its emissions by 2030 and then reduce them to nil by 2060.
However, record-breaking summer heat & drought, coupled with a power shortage last year, prompted officials to revert to carbon-rich coal use, which they have framed as a hiccup to a more sustainable society. Beijing announced earlier this year that it would increase coal mining capability by 300 million tonnes and accelerate the licencing of coal plants & related infrastructure.
Yangtze River Declines As Crops Are Threatened By Heat And Dryness
A severe drought harms harvests and forces regions dependent on China’s largest river, the Yangtze, to use pumps & even cloud-seeding rockets. A heatwave is also anticipated to last for an additional two weeks.
Scientists believe that recent changes to the pacific tropical high, a major component in regulating east Asian summer weather, are to blame for the recent temperature rise in the lower and middle reaches of the Yangtze.
As the Shanghai government’s Guangming Newspaper reported, the agricultural ministry has sent 25 teams to critical regions to safeguard crops since the fall harvest is in danger. Experts from the Chinese National Climate Center predict that the heatwave will last Another 2 weeks. The period of extremely high temperatures was the longest until records were kept in 1961.
The precipitation amount in the drainage region declined nearly 30% in July and was 60percentage points below average in August, according to the Yangtze Water Resource Commission. Rainfall in the river’s tributaries is “far lower” than in the past. The Poyang body of water in Jiangxi province, which is essential for regulating the Yangtze’s movement of liquid in the summer, has plummeted to levels more characteristic of the winter dry period after a 50% decrease in rainfall in July.
According to reports, communities dependent on lake water were driven to utilise pumps to irrigate their rice harvests. Nine hundred missiles have been made available for “seeding” clouds in the huge municipality of Chongqing in the nation’s southwest.
Other locations have begun to change the climate on their own. China routinely permits water from The Gorges Dam to be released into the Yangtze to ease the Yangtze’s drought. Nonetheless, according to official data, downstream discharges are only half as big as they were a year ago.
