Some areas in China experienced temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius. The local meteorological authority continued to issue high temperature warnings for 25 days in a row.
Meteorologists believe the summer of 2022 in China recorded the strongest heatwave in six decades. They also predict that a long-lasting heat wave will become the 'new normal' in the future due to worsening global warming.
Long-standing scorching temperatures have caused drought in many parts of China, including Henan, which is a major grain producer. This condition also triggers electricity consumption to the maximum limit.
Experts believe the heat wave will be a stimulus for the Chinese government to prepare for the new normal by accelerating the pace of embracing industrial upgrading, new and renewable energy, and increasing investment in infrastructure and modern agriculture.
The China Meteorological Administration (CMA) on Sunday (14/8) issued a red alert which means the highest alert in China's weather warning system (there are four warning levels) for extreme heat.
An urgent warning was issued for certain parts of Northwest China's Xinjiang region, North China's Shaanxi Province and East China's Jiangsu Province.
Zhushan, a city in central China's Hubei Province, was listed as the hottest city in China with temperatures exceeding 44 degrees Celsius on Saturday. Jiangsu issued a warning on Sunday (14/8) saying that the surface temperature of some parts of the province would exceed 72 degrees Celsius.
Quoted from the Global Times, Monday (15/8/2022) more than 10 provincial-level regions, including Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui Provinces, are living with temperatures ranging from 40-42 degrees Celsius this weekend.
Some tourist attractions were also closed due to high temperatures. Operators of the 71-meter-tall Leshan Giant Buddha Statue, one of China's most important cultural treasures located in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, announced on Sunday (14/8) that they were closing the statue's foot area to tourists, due to high temperatures.
In addition, on Saturday (13/8), the manager of the Chishui Waterfall in Zunyi City, Guizhou Province, Southwest China, said his party had closed the waterfall site, because the upstream of the waterfall had dried up due to high temperatures. It did not say when it would reopen.
"This year's heat wave was the strongest in China since the country began meteorological observations in 1961, and the longest," said Sun Shao, a senior researcher with the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences.
Sun said that compared to China's record-breaking 2013 heatwave, which lasted 62 days, this year's heatwave started earlier.
"We have witnessed a heatwave for 62 days through Sunday (14/8), and the scope of its influence and the highest temperature has surpassed 2013," said Sun, noting that the heatwave is likely to continue for another week.
He attributed the reasons for the abnormal weather to atmospheric circulation patterns, particularly the elevation abnormalities of the Western Pacific subtropics which have an important influence on weather and climate anomalies in the East Asian monsoon region.