China faces 40C heat wave as officials warn nation’s air conditioning needs will be ‘serious test’ | World News
China is facing a 40C (104F) heatwave, with several provinces already on the highest possible alert and officials warning of melting ice, landslides and wildfires.
Following above-average temperatures in June and early July, Saturday is the ‘big hot’ day in the Chinese lunar calendar.
The Department of Emergency Management said the increased demand for air conditioners in homes, offices and factories could pose a risk to the national grid.
“For all the factories in China and in Shanghai, we have regulations that need to be followed,” said Leo Zhang, president of Chinese chemical maker Sika. as government officials warned of “serious inspections”.
In rural areas, such as Xinjiang, on the border with Kyrgyzstan, drought can destroy crops.
Xinjiang, home to China’s Uighur population, is also home to 20% of the world’s cotton.
Elsewhere in the province, potential ice melt could lead to dam failure.
Chen Chunyan, chief expert of the Xinjiang Meteorological Observatory, told state media: “The continued high temperature has accelerated the melting of ice in mountainous areas and caused natural disasters. such as flash floods, landslides and landslides in many places”.
Ice cubes delivered to a COVID testing site in Shanghai
20 provinces are on high alert
About 20 of China’s 31 provinces have been reported to have endured extreme temperatures, with coastal areas and Shanghai considered the hardest hit, according to the National Meteorological Center. Experts mostly blame climate change.
The city of Chongqing and the provinces of Hunan, Guangdong, Zhejiang and Jiangxi are all at risk of forest fires.
Shanghai
Maximum temperatures in China are largely unverified, with a local newspaper reporting 50.3C (122.5F) at a weather station near Ayding, Xinjiang in 2015.
In July, officials in Shanghai said the temperature of 40.9C (105.6F) was the highest on record, first reached in 2017.
Temperatures in some areas could reach 50C (122F) next week, the Bureau of Meteorology announced on Friday.
