People flock to Zhongshan Park in Beijing in early November to witness the vibrant autumn hues adorning the trees. AFP
China's National Climate Centre revealed on Wednesday that the country experienced its warmest autumn this year since record-keeping began decades ago. As the world's leading emitter of greenhouse gases, which scientists attribute to driving global climate change and increasing the frequency of extreme weather events, China has committed to peaking carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2060.
"During this year's autumn season (September 1 to November 30), the national average temperature was 11.8 degrees Celsius, 1.5 degrees higher than the average year, marking the highest since 1961," the centre announced via its social media account. This year, China also recorded its hottest July since records began, which was also the hottest month in observational history. August followed suit as the warmest on record, culminating in a summer characterized by extreme weather conditions ranging from scorching heatwaves to torrential rainfall.
Global warming exacerbates such weather conditions not only through higher temperatures but also through the knock-on effects of increased heat in the atmosphere and seas. Warmer air can hold more water vapor, and warmer oceans lead to greater evaporation, resulting in more intense downpours and storms. This autumn, most regions in China experienced temperatures 1 to 2 degrees Celsius above average, with parts of central, east, southwest, and northwest China seeing average temperatures 2 to 4 degrees Celsius higher compared to previous years, according to the National Climate Centre.
"This year is indeed much warmer than last year, and the winter is also much warmer," commented a user from Shandong province on Weibo. "This time last year, I remember it was almost snowing. The temperature had dropped to minus four or five degrees. It's only 8 degrees now," the user added. Sixteen provinces and regions, including Liaoning, Tianjin, and Chongqing, recorded their highest average autumn temperatures since 1961. Additionally, daily maximum temperatures at 375 national weather stations either exceeded or matched local historical autumn records.
The average number of high-temperature days nationwide in September also reached a record high for the same period in history, while Sichuan, Chongqing, and the middle reaches of the Yangtze River faced heat and drought in early autumn, the climate centre reported. Residents of Guangzhou in southern China experienced a record-breaking long summer this year, with state media reporting 240 days where the average temperature was above 22C (71.6 degrees Fahrenheit), surpassing the 1994 record of 234 days.
Globally, this year is "virtually certain" to be the hottest on record, with warming above 1.5C, according to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service in November. Copernicus predicts that 2024 will likely exceed 1.55 degrees Celsius (2.8 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 1850-1900 average—the period before industrial-scale fossil fuel burning. This does not constitute a breach of the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global warming to below 2C and preferably 1.5C, as that is measured over decades rather than individual years.
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