China Focus: Extreme weather sounds alarm, demanding quicker, more effective response

BEIJING, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Li Bingji, a farmer in north China's Hebei Province, had a difficult summer because the blazing sun had parched his dry farmland for an unusually longer period of time.

With precipitation below 10 millimeters and temperatures 2 to 5 degrees Celsius higher than usual in mid-June in most parts of Hebei, soil water evaporated faster and drought developed rapidly.

Li and his fellow villagers yearned for rainfall but a drizzle on the Summer Solstice disappointed them. "Unfortunately, it only moistened the land less than half a finger deep," he said.

As everyone needed irrigation, Li had to wait for two days before getting his land watered.

Such a scenario was not rare in June across northern China and the Yellow River and Huaihe River basins. Prolonged heatwaves have sparked droughts in the country's north, east and central regions, delaying planting schedules, increasing production costs and complicating field operations.

In July, many places in China recorded more than 20 consecutive high-temperature days, and the country's 59 national weather stations found their daily maximum temperature exceeding or staying at their historical highs.

"As climate warming intensifies, China has found scorching weather beginning earlier, lasting longer and having greater intensity and broader impacts," said Chao Qingchen, director of the National Climate Center.

According to Chao, an analysis based on the center's latest weather models predicted that by 2050, China will experience more extreme weather and climate events in broader areas, marked by heightened severity.

ALARM CALL

Official statistics showed that high-temperature weather hit the country more frequently.

From 1981 to 1990, similar weather occurred as early as on June 24, whereas in 2023, it advanced 16 days earlier on May 28. Currently, the cumulative days of regional high-temperature events have surged by 4.8 days per decade, with the average area affected by high temperatures also expanding notably.

As the temperature rises, so does the amount of atmospheric water, increasing the risk of extremely heavy precipitation, which has become a reality that China must deal with now and for a long time in the future.

In China's northern regions where substantial precipitation was quite rare in the past, extreme rainfall events are becoming more frequent.

For instance, last summer, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region experienced unprecedented torrential rains, with Beijing's precipitation in just a few days exceeding that of three extreme rainstorms in the history of northern China.

"Now, it seems that we have been caught in a vicious circle. Global warming leads to more frequent occurrences of extreme events, as heat waves move to the polar regions with ocean currents, accelerating the melting of glaciers and sea ice, which will cause more intense global warming," said Zhang Dongqi, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences.

Following the hottest year in 2023, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported in June that there is an 86 percent chance that at least one year in the next five years will surpass that heat level.

Another report released by the Copernicus Climate Change Service, the European Union's climate agency, revealed that this May was the warmest on record globally, marking the 12th consecutive month of record-high global average temperatures.

The frequency and intensity of wildfires worldwide have doubled in the last two decades, according to a research paper published on the British journal Nature Ecology & Revolution.

Ma Yuchun, an official with National Fire and Rescue Administration, warned that rising temperatures could lead to drought, while forests can catch fire easily with flammable dry leaves coupled with the wind.

CHALLENGES, ACTIONS

The increase in extreme precipitation poses greater challenges for urban areas which tend to be densely populated with concentrated infrastructure and suffer from pronounced urban heat island and rain island effects, researchers said.

Jiang Tong, executive dean of Research Institute of Climatic and Environmental Governance at Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, has been particularly concerned about the capabilities of cities to cope with extreme weather.

"The existing urban drainage network system must keep pace with the urgent need for swift dispersal of vast quantities of rainwater, otherwise it would lead to severe urban flooding, snarled traffic, and disruptions to residents' daily lives," he said.

"Furthermore, prolonged duration and increased intensity of heatwaves would place significant strain on critical infrastructure, including power grids and water supply systems, which serve as the lifeline of the city," Jiang said.

For the public, extreme weather's impacts on people's daily lives are real. This year, hospitals in southeast China have witnessed a surge of heat stroke patients.

Meanwhile, high temperatures could also affect people's mental health, resulting mood swings, memory impairment, feelings of depression and anger.

An annual report released at the end of last year by the WMO revealed that heat-related mortality rates may be up to 30 times higher than currently recorded.

To cope with the challenges, China is seeking to improve its response by mobilizing the grassroots communities and leveraging new technologies.

On June 16, torrential rain hit Pingyuan County of Guangdong Province. Local government promptly initiated evacuation procedures via chatting groups, phone calls and messages, and even knocked on doors to swiftly transfer villagers to safer locations.

"No matter how prompt our emergency rescue force is, it always takes time to arrive at the disaster site. Therefore, improving the grassroots disaster prevention and control capabilities must become a priority," said Liu Chuanzheng, an official with the Ministry of Emergency Management.

Cutting-edge technologies such as satellite remote sensing monitoring and unmanned aerial vehicles have significantly bolstered the nation's capabilities in disaster warning and management.

Two advanced satellites have been officially put into operation for atmospheric environment monitoring and terrestrial ecosystem carbon monitoring on July 25, providing crucial data to effectively address global climate change and support China's carbon peaking and neutrality goals.

Statistics showed that since 2018, China has seen a significant decrease in the number of missing people and deaths triggered by natural disasters as compared with the preceding five years. ■