- China is described as a “sensitive region in global climate change”.
- The UN Secretary-General warned last month that “no nation is immune”.
- China has already endured weeks of extreme weather, with temperatures reaching over 44 degrees Celsius.
SHANGHAI: China’s average land temperature has risen faster than the global average over the past 70 years and will remain “significantly higher” in the future as the challenges of climate change mount, a government official said.
In its annual climate assessment published this week, the China Meteorological Bureau described the country as “a sensitive region in global climate change”, with a 0.26 degree Celsius rise in temperature over the decade since 1951. 0.47 degrees Fahrenheit) increased, compared to the global average of 0.15 degrees. .
“In the future, the regional average temperature increase in China will be significantly higher than that of the world,” Yuan Jieshuang, deputy director of China’s National Climate Center (NCC), said at a briefing on Wednesday.
He warned that changing weather patterns in China would affect the balance of water resources, further weaken ecosystems and reduce crop yields.
Extreme weather has wreaked havoc in recent weeks, with prolonged heat waves causing droughts and forest fires around the world. Historically heavy rains have also led to deadly floods in some countries.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned last month that “no nation is immune to climate change” and said the world must now choose between “collective action or collective suicide”.
China has already endured weeks of extreme weather, with temperatures reaching more than 44C (111F) in southwestern Greece and Hebei in the north.
According to NCC data, about 131 Chinese weather stations recorded temperatures that equaled or exceeded historic highs, up from 62 last year.
China’s 2021 climate assessment says coastal water levels last year were the highest since 1980. Glacial retreat also accelerated, with active permafrost along the Qinghai-Tibet Highway reaching record highs and sea ice continuing to decline.
China also recorded a 7.9 percent increase in vegetation cover in 2021 compared to the 2001-2020 average, and the assessment noted that many vegetation growth periods are starting earlier each year.
