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Zhang Tong

Summer has officially arrived in China’s southern megacity of Guangzhou, its earliest arrival for more than six decades.
Meanwhile, more than 1,100km (700 miles) to the north, authorities in Beijing have declared the arrival of spring – also much earlier than usual.
The unseasonably high temperatures are attributed mainly to global warming and the El Nino effect, with a climate expert in China warning of more extreme weather ahead.
Guangzhou entered the summer season on March 23, the city’s meteorological bureau announced on Saturday.
“This marks the earliest onset of summer in Guangzhou since complete meteorological records began in 1961. The previous record was set on March 26, 2021,” local daily Yangcheng Evening News reported.
Typically, summer in Guangzhou would begin on April 16. However, over the past decade, the season has consistently started earlier, including four years when it arrived in March, the report said.
Saturday’s announcement from Guangzhou officials came as prematurely high temperatures were reported across most of southern China.
“This afternoon, temperatures in most parts of the south exceeded 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit), with some areas even reaching 30 degrees,” the Central Meteorological Administration said. “Among them, Hefei and Nanjing broke their local records for the highest March temperatures, while Hangzhou and Shanghai experienced their first 30 degrees-plus days of the year,”
Every day, meteorological bureaus calculate the average temperature of the past five days, to find the “five-day moving average”.
Under the national standard for the “division of climatic seasons”, the first time this moving average exceeds 22 degrees Celsius is designated as the start of summer.
Similarly, spring begins when the five-day moving average exceeds 10 degrees Celsius.
Beijing announced the arrival of spring this year on March 13, nearly a fortnight earlier than the usual March 26.
Much of the premature highs are blamed on the El Nino climate pattern, which involves the unusual warming of surface waters in the eastern tropical Pacific.
Already ravaged by extreme weather, China agriculture braces for early El Nino
The central and eastern equatorial Pacific has been experiencing a moderate El Nino event since last May.
Jia Xiaolong, deputy director of China’s National Climate Centre, warned in February that influence of El Nino was likely to cause higher than average spring temperatures across most of China.
On March 5, the World Meteorological Organization reported that the 2023-24 El Nino event had peaked in December as one of the five strongest on record. The phenomenon was “gradually weakening” but would “continue to impact the global climate in the coming months” the report said, forecasting above normal temperatures “over almost all land areas between March and May”.
According to The Washington Post, several cities in the United States this year experienced their warmest February on record.
The combined impact of global warming and El Nino made 2023 the warmest year for the Earth since 1951, with many regions around the world breaking high temperature records.


The trend is likely to continue. “Global carbon dioxide emissions are still at their peak. By [the end of] 2024, we might again say it was the warmest year on record,” Wei Ke, deputy director of the Monsoon System Research Centre at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Atmospheric Physics said.
Against the backdrop of global warming, extreme weather events would become increasingly frequent, he warned, according to an interview posted online by mainland media company Yitiao.
Studies suggest that, as the planet warms, El Nino events could become more frequent and severe, altering precipitation patterns that impact agriculture, water supply and natural ecosystems.


Indonesian clove farmers’ hopes wither as climate change hits hard

Japan’s scorching summers could halt children’s outdoor sports by 2060, experts say

Indians weather the heat with smartwatches and cool roofs

‘Exhausted and short of breath’: hidden toll of Hong Kong’s food delivery grind

Extreme weather

South China’s Guangzhou reports ‘earliest summer since 1961’ in global warming, El Nino double whammy

A fiery sunset over Guangzhou, where for a decade summer has arrived at an earlier date than the typical April 16. Photo: Xinhua

Malaysia bakes under worsening heatwave as temperatures near 40 degrees

The sun sets behind the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia is using drones to survey peatlands susceptible to catching fire and monitoring dwindling water levels in dams. Photo: Reuters

Construction workers erect scaffolding in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia’s government is looking into ways to protect construction workers who toil for hours under the hot sun. Photo: EPA-EFE

2023 was the hottest in 125,000 years. But it won’t be the last

A field of burnt sunflowers is seen on August 22, close to Puy Saint Martin village, in southeastern France, where temperature hit 43 degrees Celsius. Photo: AFP

News

China

Science

Guangzhou entered the summer season on March 23, city’s meteorological bureau announces on Saturday
It is the ‘earliest onset of summer’ since full records began in 1961, with previous record set on March 26, 2021, local daily reports


Guangzhou entered the summer season on March 23, city’s meteorological bureau announces on Saturday, reportedly the ‘earliest onset’ since full records began in 1961.


South China’s Guangzhou reports ‘earliest summer since 1961’ in global warming, El Nino double whammy

Guangzhou entered the summer season on March 23, city’s meteorological bureau announces on Saturday It is the ‘earliest onset of summer’ since full records began in 1961, with previous record set on March 26, 2021, local daily reports

Guangzhou entered the summer season on March 23, city’s meteorological bureau announces on Saturday

It is the ‘earliest onset of summer’ since full records began in 1961, with previous record set on March 26, 2021, local daily reports