Global warming hits China: South China has been suffering an unprecedented heat wave this past week as electricity minister in several of the country's major cities struggles to meet the demand for air conditioning, and experts fear drought and severe damage to agriculture.
Since March, record temperatures have been recorded mainly in the south and east of the country and crops and livestock have suffered. This week, China's agriculture ministry estimated that tens of thousands of pigs, rabbits, fish and other common farm animals had died as a result of the heat wave.
Particularly severe heat wave in southern China // Photo: Reuters
In addition, the Chinese government worries about drought due to the unusually low amount of rainwater during the spring months. The rainfall, which was quantitatively less, fell within short windows of time and caused flooding in several provinces in the southeast and southwest of the country last week.
On Wednesday, 578 climate measurement stations across China reported temperatures high or similar to an all-time high. The hot weather caused thousands of people to be hospitalized. Several meteorological stations in Sichuan and Yunnan, two large provinces in southeastern China, reported temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius.
In the southern port city of Shenzhen, temperatures climbed to 33 degrees Celsius, extreme heat in the city, amplified by the massive humidity coming from the sea. Zhao Vinag, two workers from the city who work at a construction site, told Reuters: "It's very hot here, and every year it gets hotter. I feel like there's nothing we can do about it. We have to work to feed the family."
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