SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Shanghai recorded its hottest May day in 100 years on Monday, the city’s meteorological service said, shattering the previous record by one degree.
Scientists say global warming is exacerbating adverse weather conditions, with many countries experiencing deadly heat waves and temperatures have hit record highs in Southeast and South Asia in recent weeks.
“At 1:09 p.m., the temperature at Xujiahui Station reached 36.1 degrees Celsius (97 degrees Fahrenheit), breaking a 100-year-old record for the highest temperature in May,” reads the service’s official Weibo account. , referring to a subway station in the center of China’s largest city.
The temperature at the bustling resort soared even higher to 36.7C (98F) later in the afternoon, the Shanghai Meteorological Service said.
That puts it a full degree above the old record, 35.7C, which has been recorded four times before, in 1876, 1903, 1915 and 2018, according to the weather service.
People in Shanghai sweltered in the early afternoon sun, with some apps showing a “like” temperature estimate of over 40C (104F).
“I left at noon to pick up a delivery and had a headache after returning,” read a message from Shanghai on Weibo.
Another said: “I almost got heatstroke, it’s really hot enough to explode.”
Parts of India experienced temperatures above 44C (111F) in mid-April, with at least 11 deaths near Mumbai attributed to heatstroke in a single day.
In Bangladesh, Dhaka experienced its hottest day in almost 60 years.
The city of Tak in Thailand recorded its highest ever temperature of 45.4°C (114°F), while Sainyabuli province in Laos hit 42.9°C (109°F), a record national all-weather temperature, according to the World Weather Attribution group study.
A recent report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that “every increase in global warming will intensify multiple and simultaneous risks”.
In May, the United Nations warned that 2023-2027 is almost certain to be the warmest five-year period on record, as greenhouse gases and El Niño combine to drive up temperatures.
There is a two-thirds chance that at least one of the next five years will see global temperatures exceed the more ambitious target set in the Paris agreements on limiting climate change, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has said.
THE Paris Agreement 2015 saw countries agree to cap global warming at “well below” two degrees Celsius above average levels measured between 1850 and 1900 – and 1.5C if possible.
The global average temperature in 2022 was 1.15°C above the 1850-1900 average.
The WMO said there is a 66% chance that annual global surface temperatures will exceed 1.5C above pre-industrial levels for at least one of the years from 2023 to 2027.
Scientists say global warming is exacerbating adverse weather conditions, with many countries experiencing deadly heat waves and temperatures have hit record highs in Southeast and South Asia in recent weeks.
“At 1:09 p.m., the temperature at Xujiahui Station reached 36.1 degrees Celsius (97 degrees Fahrenheit), breaking a 100-year-old record for the highest temperature in May,” reads the service’s official Weibo account. , referring to a subway station in the center of China’s largest city.
The temperature at the bustling resort soared even higher to 36.7C (98F) later in the afternoon, the Shanghai Meteorological Service said.
That puts it a full degree above the old record, 35.7C, which has been recorded four times before, in 1876, 1903, 1915 and 2018, according to the weather service.
People in Shanghai sweltered in the early afternoon sun, with some apps showing a “like” temperature estimate of over 40C (104F).
“I left at noon to pick up a delivery and had a headache after returning,” read a message from Shanghai on Weibo.
Another said: “I almost got heatstroke, it’s really hot enough to explode.”
Parts of India experienced temperatures above 44C (111F) in mid-April, with at least 11 deaths near Mumbai attributed to heatstroke in a single day.
In Bangladesh, Dhaka experienced its hottest day in almost 60 years.
The city of Tak in Thailand recorded its highest ever temperature of 45.4°C (114°F), while Sainyabuli province in Laos hit 42.9°C (109°F), a record national all-weather temperature, according to the World Weather Attribution group study.
A recent report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that “every increase in global warming will intensify multiple and simultaneous risks”.
In May, the United Nations warned that 2023-2027 is almost certain to be the warmest five-year period on record, as greenhouse gases and El Niño combine to drive up temperatures.
There is a two-thirds chance that at least one of the next five years will see global temperatures exceed the more ambitious target set in the Paris agreements on limiting climate change, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has said.
THE Paris Agreement 2015 saw countries agree to cap global warming at “well below” two degrees Celsius above average levels measured between 1850 and 1900 – and 1.5C if possible.
The global average temperature in 2022 was 1.15°C above the 1850-1900 average.
The WMO said there is a 66% chance that annual global surface temperatures will exceed 1.5C above pre-industrial levels for at least one of the years from 2023 to 2027.
