According to local meteorological data, 2024 will be China's hottest year in more than 60 years since similar records began in the early 1960s.
According to statistics, the national average temperature last year was 10.9 degrees Celsius (51.66 degrees Fahrenheit), one degree higher than in 2023, marking the second consecutive year that this milestone has been achieved. weather networkIt is a portal website operated by the China Meteorological Administration.
According to the report, the 10 hottest years since records began in 1961 all occurred in the 21st century.
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For China's densely populated financial center Shanghai, 2024 will be the warmest year since the Qing Dynasty, data from the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau showed on Wednesday, January 1.
The city's average temperature was 18.8 degrees Celsius, the hottest since Shanghai's meteorological records began in 1873.
Warmer weather last year, accompanied by stronger storms and more rainfall, caused electricity consumption to surge in the world's second-largest economy.
The hot weather has also affected agriculture in areas such as the southern rice-growing region.
In order to ensure food security as temperatures rise, China has begun studying the adaptation of major crops to high temperatures.
If alternatives are not found, crop yields are expected to decline.
Scientists at a research institute in Beijing found that potatoes grown in China, the world's largest potato producer, would weigh less than 50 percent of typical varieties if grown in a culture room at temperatures 3 degrees Celsius above normal.
According to a report released by the United Nations in October, under current climate policies, the world will face a temperature rise of 3.1 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2100.
- Reuters Additional editing by Jim Pollard
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