Chinese regions have been told to prepare for more extreme weather this year.
This is caused by record breaking temperatures and a long drought that disrupted the country’s power supplies last summer.
“Global warming is accelerating. The climate system is becoming increasingly unstable,” the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) said.
China’s southern regions need to plan for higher temperatures and ensure that energy supplies are available to meet the summer demand. The northern regions need to prepare for heavy floods, said spokesman for CMA, at a briefing on Monday.
China was hit by a heatwave last June, that lasted more than 70 days, damaging crops, drying up lakes and reservoirs and causing damaging forest fires.
Highest temperature to date
In August last year, 267 weather stations registered the highest temperatures in China to date.
Average temperatures in China reached 10.5 degrees Celsius in 2022. This is 0.62 Celsius higher than average, according to government experts.
The average rainfall in China was 5% lower than normal last year, he added.
Limited rainfall in the southwestern regions forced hydropower facilities to cut production, which also affected electricity deliveries to the eastern coast.
Natural disaster and extreme weather events caused by climate change, resulted in an economic cost of $360 billion in 2022, worldwide. Only around 40% of the damages were covered by insurance providers, according to World Economic Forum.
Sources:
Reuters.com
Weforum.org
