China endured hottest summer on record this year

BEIJING: China experienced its hottest summer on record this year, the meteorological authority said, as heatwaves continued to scorch the country’s south.

“From June to August this year, large parts of China experienced intense heat, with the national average temperature reaching 22.31°C – the hottest summer on record,” the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) said in a social media post on Monday night.

Authorities warned in July of heat-related health risks across large swathes of eastern China, with temperatures in the capital Beijing rising to nearly 40°C in June.

Met officials in Japan, South Korea and the UK earlier this week also announced record average summer temperatures.

The CMA said that while parts of China would experience a brief reprieve from sweltering heat in the middle of the week, cities including Shanghai would see daily highs exceeding 35°C again by the end of the week.

Human greenhouse gas emissions are driving climate change that causes longer, more frequent and more intense heatwaves.

China is the world’s largest producer of carbon dioxide, a potent greenhouse gas, though it has pledged to bring its emissions to a peak by the end of this decade and to net zero by 2060.

The country has also emerged as a global leader in renewable energy in recent years as it seeks to pivot its massive economy away from highly polluting coal consumption.