As temperatures in certain regions of China surpass 40°C, many cities have opened air-raid shelters to provide relief for local residents. The extreme heat has led to the deaths of chickens and pigs on farms across the affected areas.
Media reports indicate that the temperatures inside these shelters are around 10°C cooler than outside, making them attractive places for students to study or engage in recreational activities such as chess, ping-pong, and reading. In Wuhan, Hubei Province, two shelters will operate for 12 hours each day until September. Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang Province, has equipped six air-raid shelters capable of accommodating up to 2,000 people with amenities such as free Wi-Fi, drinks, and heatstroke medicines. Additionally, Hangzhou has designated specific areas within seven subway lines as rest areas, providing chairs for passengers to cool off.
Besides Wuhan and Hangzhou, other Chinese cities such as Xi’an in Shaanxi Province and Nanjing in Jiangsu Province have also repurposed air-raid shelters as public cooling centers.
Unusual heatwaves have been experienced in large parts of China this year. As of Tuesday, the National Meteorological Center had issued 43 high-temperature warnings, including 27 yellow warnings and 16 orange warnings. The national average precipitation has been 233.4 millimeters, which is 11.2% lower than the same period in 2022, as reported by Gao Hui, a chief forecaster at the National Climate Center.
The scorching heat has resulted in several animal tragedies. In Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, a late-night power outage led to the death of 462 pigs at a hog farm due to sustained elevated temperatures. Similarly, a faulty alarm line at a chicken farm in Suizhou, Hubei Province, failed to issue an alarm in time, causing over 4,000 chickens to perish from the heat.
The persistent heatwaves have caused a surge in electricity demand, with one major power plant setting a new record for electricity production. The integrated load of the China Southern Power Grid, which supplies power to five provinces, reached 227 million kilowatts on Tuesday, reaching a record high.
While El Nino contributes to changes in atmospheric circulation patterns and affects climate and weather worldwide, it is just one of the factors influencing the climate anomaly in China. Global warming, greenhouse emissions, geographic locations, topography, and urbanization also play significant roles in creating heatwaves, according to Sun Shao, a senior researcher at the National Climate Center.
In the next 10 days, southern Jiangnan, the Xinjiang Basin, the Hexi region of Gansu Province, and western Inner Mongolia are expected to experience high temperatures of 35°C or higher, with some areas reaching 38°C to 40°C. Local regions in the Xinjiang Basin and western Inner Mongolia may even see maximum temperatures as high as 41°C to 42°C, according to Sun.
July has witnessed the 10 hottest days ever recorded as heatwaves extend globally. The average global temperature surpassed 17°C for the first time on July 3 and has remained above that level into this week, according to data from the US National Centers for Environmental Prediction.