Sébastien Le Belzic / Photo credit: AFP
modified to
07:29, May 30, 2023
China is currently facing an unprecedented heat wave. With more than 36 degrees recorded Monday in Shanghai, this month of May is the hottest for a century in this city. And Shanghai is not the only one concerned, the whole country is experiencing exceptional temperatures.
The consequences are already clearly visible in China. Beyond the stifling heat and the hum of air conditioners in the big cities, the countryside is devastated. Spring plantings in rice fields in the center of the country are already scorched by the sun and vegetable prices have again soared by more than 20% year on year.
Temperatures exacerbated by climate change
David Karoly is a specialist in climate issues at the University of Sydney, and explains this phenomenon. “What is happening in particular this year is the extreme nature of this heat wave in China and these very high temperatures are exacerbated by climate change. Climate change increases the risk of having extreme temperatures making these more frequent and intense heat waves.”
All the countries in the region are also hit by an exceptional heat wave this year. But according to UN experts, China is 30 times more exposed than others to climate change. The fault with its galloping urbanization, and its bulimia of energy. Coal in particular, very polluting and emitting CO2.