Chinese cities swelter in record heat; rice-growing regions under threat
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People cool off in a stream amid a heatwave in Hangzhou.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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BEIJING - Extreme heat baked megacities on the eastern Chinese seaboard and sharply pushed up demand for power to cool homes and offices, while scorching temperatures in China’s interior stoked fears of damage to rice crops.
The megacity of Hangzhou, home to some of China’s largest companies, banned all non-essential outdoor lighting and light shows this week to conserve energy as extreme heat tested power grids, the local authorities said.
Known for its entrepreneurs and technology giants such as Alibaba and NetEase, Hangzhou has sweltered under temperatures exceeding 40 deg C since Aug 2 as eastern and southern China endure stubbornly high temperatures.
In nearby Shanghai, the maximum load, or demand, on its power grid exceeded 40 million kilowatts for the first time on Aug 2 as heatwaves led to a rise in electricity consumption in the city of nearly 25 million people.
Shanghai leads the country in power load density, with the city’s core Lujiazui area consuming twice the power per sq km compared with New York’s Manhattan or Tokyo’s Ginza district, according to its grid operator.
As the maximum load on Hangzhou’s own grids clocked new highs, officials said they would implement a “practical” plan to ensure the normal operation of functional lighting in public spaces and safeguard the safety of night-time travel.
Chinese meteorologists say the record heat in 2024 has been worsened by global warming, despite the cooling effects of the La Nina weather phenomenon.
In 2024, China was hit by its warmest spring since 1961, followed by the hottest May and then weeks of drought-like conditions in the central farmland region.
Maximum daily temperatures of 37 deg C to 39 deg C, and even above 40 deg C, are expected to hit parts of Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui and Zhejiang until Aug 11. The heat coincides with the harvest of the early-season rice crop in those places, spurring calls for increased irrigation to keep fields cool.
Fatalities have been reported in neighbouring South Korea and Japan as powerful summer heat enveloped the region. China has yet to announce if there have been any deaths from the extreme heat. REUTERS
