• Severe heatwave warnings issued for nearly 70 Chinese cities where temperatures are expected to exceed 40 degrees Celsius.
• Average daily temperatures are at their highest since 1961.
• 13 national weather stations in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces broke or tied local temperature records on Sunday.

Severe heatwave warnings were issued for nearly 70 cities in China where temperatures were expected to exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday, according to the China Meteorological Administration.

Another 393 Chinese cities and counties were expected to experience temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) or higher, according to the administration.

China’s temperatures have been rising faster than the global average, and the recent heat wave has raised new concerns about the rate of global warming.

The latest heatwave, defined as three days or more of unusually hot weather, is the second of the month. Average daily temperatures are at their highest since 1961, and 13 national weather stations in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces broke or tied local temperature records on Sunday.

According to state media, the latest heatwave is expected to be similar to one that lasted nearly two weeks from July 5-17, according to the National Meteorological Center’s Chief Forecaster, Fu Jiaolan. However, as temperatures rise to “red alert” levels in more areas, this severe weather will likely affect more people.

China has a four-tiered weather warning system, with red alerts indicating temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius or higher, orange alerts indicating temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius or higher, and yellow and blue alerts indicating temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius or higher.

67 cities had issued red alerts as of Monday. The local meteorological bureau in Guangzhou expects the hot weather to last 23 days, making it the city’s longest heatwave since 1951.

Chen Chunyan, chief expert at the Xinjiang Meteorological Observatory, told state media on Sunday that the prolonged heatwave has accelerated the melting of glaciers in the region’s mountain ranges.

“Continued high temperature has accelerated glacial melting in mountainous areas, and caused natural disasters such as flash floods, mudslides, and landslides in many places,” Chen said

This unusual weather is not limited to Xinjiang, which has a large desert region and is accustomed to hot weather. Due to severe flooding and landslides, dozens of people have been killed and millions have been displaced in southern China since May.

Extreme weather, when combined with heat waves, could have serious economic consequences for China.
Floods, droughts, and tropical cyclones are estimated to cost China $238 billion per year, according to a World Meteorological Organization report released last year.

And Chen warned that if the heat wave in Xinjiang continues, it could harm cotton production, dealing another blow to China’s economy already reeling from a pandemic-induced slowdown.

China is the world’s second largest cotton producer, with Xinjiang accounting for 85 percent of all cotton produced in the country.

[embedpost slug=”heatwaves-will-threaten-china-as-the-almanacks-great-heat-day-approaches/”]