Is China prepared for its ‘warmer and wetter’ future?

Name: The surprising hurdle slowing China’s switch to green energy
Uploaded: 2023-02-28T10:06:56.000Z
Duration: 8 min 42 s
Description: The surprising hurdle slowing China’s switch to green energy

China will have longer heatwaves, more floods and warmer seas this century, climate scientists warn

Forecasters say they must better communicate risks of extreme weather and climate events

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China will have longer heatwaves, more floods and warmer seas this century, climate scientists warn. Photo: Simon Song

Cyril Ip

Published: 6:06pm, 28 Feb 2023

China’s near future will be “warmer and wetter”, a Chinese climate expert has warned, adding that more “scientific” knowledge about the crisis should be better communicated to the public.

China’s fragile ecological environment, as well as it regional geography, make it vulnerable to climate change, and that will result in longer heatwaves, more frequent floods and warmer ocean surface temperatures this year, said Chao Qingchen, director of the National Climate Centre, a subsidiary of the China Meteorological Administration.

“With the frequent occurrence of various extreme weather and climate events that each of us has personally experienced or [seen in] the media, we should all be acutely aware that the climate crisis is no longer ‘unfounded worry’, but just around the corner,” said Chao, who spoke at a science conference last week, adding that the world will be confronted with “more severe” disasters.

The gloomy preliminary analyses of China’s climate conditions this year were presented by experts from the centre, who predicted frequent and strong bouts of extreme weather and climate events.

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The surprising hurdle slowing China’s switch to green energy

Southern China – which covers Yunnan and Guangdong provinces, the Guangxi Zhuang region and nearby Hong Kong – should focus on ensuring energy supplies during the summer’s higher temperatures, and coastal areas should have defences against typhoons strengthened, the experts said. The region will also see an increase in droughts.

By the year 2100, extreme sea level events that rarely happen in coastal areas across the world will become regular annual occurrences, Chao warned.

Is China prepared for its ‘warmer and wetter’ future?

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}China will have longer heatwaves, more floods and warmer seas this century, climate scientists warn Forecasters say they must better communicate risks of extreme weather and climate events

China will have longer heatwaves, more floods and warmer seas this century, climate scientists warn

Forecasters say they must better communicate risks of extreme weather and climate events