Abnormal heat wave and record floods: some parts of China are hit by extreme weather conditions, a consequence of global warming, assure the specialists, and at the origin of half a million displaced people.
What’s going on ?
Torrential rains caused rivers to overflow to levels not seen in nearly a century. The region affected is the Pearl River basin, located in the rich manufacturing province of Guangdong (south), which notably includes the regional capital Canton.
In some places in the province, the water reached the roofs of cars. The neighboring regions of Guangxi (south) and Fujian (east) are also affected to varying degrees. Faced with the risk of flooding, more than 500,000 people have been preventively evacuated since the beginning of the month.
At the same time, extreme heat affects the north and center of the country. By more than 40 ° C, millions of inhabitants are instructed to stay at home. In Henan (center), it is so hot that the bitumen has cracked. In Shandong (east), air conditioning on Tuesday broke a record for electricity consumption in China’s second most populous province.
How to explain it?
Flooding is common in some areas of the country in late spring and early summer. But they seem to have become stronger in recent years with climate change.
“Extreme weather events have become more frequent, more severe and more widespread,” observes the Chinese administration in charge of weather forecasting.
“Global warming and La Niña are contributing to abnormally high temperatures and extreme rainfall in China,” said an official of the government’s climate research center in March.
Global warming makes the atmosphere more humid and therefore increases precipitation. La Niña is a climatic phenomenon responsible for the cooling of part of the surface waters of the Pacific. This has repercussions on the precipitation cycle and the climate of certain regions of the globe.
What consequences?
The heat wave and floods threaten the production of pork, cereals and vegetables, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang warned on Wednesday, fearing a surge in inflation.
Especially since the food supply of the Asian giant is already strained by the anti-Covid health restrictions, which weigh on the harvests.
Extreme weather conditions are likely to cost China between 1% and 3% of its GDP each year, estimates the country’s powerful planning agency.
Severe flooding last year, which killed more than 300 people in the center of the country, was estimated at 25 billion dollars (23.7 billion euros), according to a study by the Swiss insurer Swiss Re .
What is China doing?
The unbridled urbanization of China for 40 years covers more and more land, now impermeable. And the natural lakes, which serve as spillways in case of flooding, are seeing their surface area reduced.
In an attempt to reverse the trend, in 2014 the government launched a program of “sponge cities”, aimed at replacing urban surfaces with porous materials, green spaces and drainage systems, so that water disappears into the ground. .
However, “the most destructive floods (now) occur in historically less exposed areas,” notes researcher Scott Moore of the University of Pennsylvania, a specialist in environmental issues in China.
Beijing is also looking to boost the accuracy of weather forecasts through sensors and new satellites, according to a roadmap released last week. Stated objective: predict floods or serious droughts one month in advance.