Last year was China’s hottest on record, weather agency says
China's average national temperature for 2024 was 1.03 degrees higher than average, making it "the warmest year since the start of full records in 1961", China Meteorological Administration said Wednesday night. The world's largest greenhouse gas emitter, China also experienced devastating floods last year.
Last year was China's warmest on record, its weather agency said, as the world experiences a surge in extreme weather fuelled by climate change.
China is the leading emitter of the greenhouse gases scientists say are driving global warming, though Beijing has pledged that carbon dioxide emissions will peak by 2030 and be brought to net zero by 2060.
The average national temperature for 2024 was 10.92 degrees Celsius (51.66 Fahrenheit), 1.03 degrees higher than average -- "the warmest year since the start of full records in 1961", the China Meteorological Administration said on its news site Wednesday night.
"The top four warmest years ever were the past four years, with all top ten warmest years since 1961 occurring in the 21st century," it added.
China has already this year logged its hottest month in the history of observation in July, as well as the hottest August and the warmest autumn, on record.
The United Nations said in a year-end message on Monday that 2024 was set to be the warmest year ever recorded worldwide.
Global warming, driven largely by the burning of fossil fuels, is not just about rising temperatures but the knock-on effect of all the extra heat in the atmosphere and seas.
(AFP)
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