BEIJING: Parts of China recorded their hottest August on record last month, the weather service said, while Japanese authorities announced 2024 had been their warmest summer since records began.
China is the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, which scientists say are driving global climate change.
Beijing has pledged to bring planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions to a peak by 2030 and to net zero emissions by 2060.
Its weather service said in a paper published Sunday that average air temperatures last month in eight provinces, regions and cities “ranked the highest for the same period” since records began.
These included the megacity of Shanghai, the provinces of Jiangsu, Hebei, Hainan, Jilin, Liaoning and Shandong, as well as the northwestern region of Xinjiang, the weather service said.
Five other provinces recorded their second-warmest August on record, while seven more endured their third-warmest August.
“Looking back over the past month, most of China has experienced a hotter summer than in previous years,” the weather service said.
Major population centres Shanghai, Hangzhou and Chongqing also recorded more “hot days” (typically declared when the mercury exceeds 35°C (95°F)) than any other August on record.
Although the heat is expected to recede across much of the North as fall begins, “it's still too early for it to be completely over,” the weather service said.
Climate scientists have already predicted that 2024 will be the hottest year on record for Earth due to global warming.
The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said July was the second warmest on record since 1940, only slightly cooler than July 2023.
Extreme heat has scorched much of East Asia this summer, with Asian neighbor Japan saying Monday its long-term average temperature between June and August was 1.76 degrees Celsius above the standard value, the highest since records began in 1898.
Rising global temperatures are also making extreme weather events more frequent and intense, and China has experienced a summer of extreme weather events, from heat waves across much of the north and west to devastating floods in central and southern regions.
Chinese weather authorities said July was the country's hottest month on record, state media reported, as extreme temperatures persist in large parts of the world.
Last month was “the warmest July since full observations began in 1961, and the warmest month in observing history,” the state broadcaster said. Closed circuit television he said, citing meteorological authorities.
The average air temperature in China last month was 23.21 °C (73.78 °F), surpassing the previous record of 23.17 °C in 2017. Closed circuit television According to meteorological authorities.
