The city of Shanghai, China, recorded the highest temperature in the month of May in more than 100 years this Monday (29), with 36.1 °C.
The previous record of 35.7°C was first recorded in May 1876, and only reached three other times (1903, 1915 and 2018), according to the country’s state media.
On Monday, the Shanghai Meteorological Department issued its first high temperature warning of the year, as temperatures in the city exceeded 35C for three consecutive days.
This comes after a heat wave swept through China in July last year, with residents turning to air raid shelters and public fountains to keep cool.
For the entire year of 2022, Shanghai recorded 50 days of temperatures above 35°C. The current temperature alert level in the city is yellow, the lowest of the three levels.
An orange alert comes into effect if the maximum temperature rises above 37 degrees Celsius within 24 hours, and red means temperatures are expected to reach over 40 degrees Celsius within the next 24 hours.
The situation in Shanghai comes amid a series of record high temperatures in Asia, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand’s capital Bangkok earlier this month. Experts say the heat was made worse by rising levels of pollution.
Scientists warn that heat waves are set to get worse as the impacts of the man-made climate crisis accelerate.
The temperature of China’s coastal waters has also risen due to global warming and sea level rise has accelerated, said Wang Hua, head of marine forecasting and monitoring department at China’s Ministry of Natural Resources, last month.
Shanghai, the country’s most developed and wealthy city, is located along this coast.
Over the past four decades, sea level rise along the Chinese coast has had long-term effects, including the erosion of coastal ecosystems and the loss of tidal flats. According to Wang, the shift also affected groundwater supplies and increased damage from storm surges, flooding and salt tide intrusion.
Source: CNN Brasil
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