China sees historic warmest year in 2023

Marked by a surge in extreme weather events, the year 2023 stood out as the warmest year on record globally, and China also experienced a historic high in average temperatures, setting a new benchmark in meteorological archives, according to a blue book.

The China Climate Change Blue Book 2024, which was released by the National Climate Center of the China Meteorological Administration at a news conference held in Beijing on Thursday to provide the public with a scientific understanding of climate change patterns.

Yuan Jiashuang, deputy director of the National Climate Center, emphasized China's vulnerability to the impacts of global climate change at the news conference.

"We are witnessing noticeable shifts across various facets of the climate system," she said, highlighting the escalating frequency and duration of extreme high-temperature events, which signal a concerning trend.

The repercussions of such events were evident during the high-temperature drought that gripped the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River from July to August 2022, wreaking havoc on agriculture, energy resources, and public health, she said.

As temperatures continue to climb, Yuan said that the atmosphere's capacity to hold water is expanding, ushering in more frequent and intense precipitation episodes.

In recent years, people in northern China have witnessed unprecedented heavy rainfall incidents, triggering urban inundation, flash floods, and landslides, resulting in injuries, deaths and substantial economic losses, she added.

In the future, against the backdrop of global warming, extreme high-temperature events in China are expected to increase, Yuan stated.

"Over the next 30 years, China's regional average extreme highest temperature is projected to rise by 1.7 to 2.8 C, with the largest increases in the eastern region and western Xinjiang. Moreover, the average number of high-temperature heat wave days is forecast to surge by 7 to 15 days," she said.