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Today’s newsletter focuses on China’s extreme weather conditions as it battles with heat waves and heavy rain.
China is facing hotter and longer heat waves and more frequent and unpredictable heavy rain as a result of climate change, the weather bureau warned, as the world’s second-biggest economy braces for another scorching summer.
In its annual climate “Blue Book”, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) warned that maximum temperatures across the country could rise by 1.7-2.8 degrees Celsius within 30 years, with eastern China and the northwestern region of Xinjiang set to suffer the most.
Last year, average national temperatures hit a new high, leading to record levels of glacial retreat and melting permafrost in the northwest, the Blue Book said.
China describes itself as one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries, and it is coming under increasing pressure to adapt to rapidly changing weather patterns and sea levels that are rising faster than the global average.
Rising water levels in the Yangtze River following intense rains in southern China have prompted eastern regions downstream to prepare for possible flooding.
Water levels in the Jiangsu section of China’s longest river rose on Wednesday as a result of the increased flow from its upper reaches as well as the persistent rainfall.
Nanjing, the capital of China’s eastern Jiangsu province, issued its second highest flood warning and authorities banned various vessels, including passenger ferries, from entering or operating in the river’s Jiangsu section, state media reported.
About 340,000 people in China were affected and businesses were hit. The rainfall would be welcome in northern areas affected by drought, but continuous rains may cause secondary disasters, weather experts warned in the national forecast.
