Record temperatures scorch eastern China, spiking power demand
Eastern China is baking under unseasonably high temperatures, with the excessive heat expected to linger for days in the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
BEIJING — Eastern China is baking under unseasonably high temperatures, with the excessive heat expected to linger in mega coastal cities in the highly industrialized provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang for up to 10 more days.
In the east and northwest of China, temperatures as high as 43.9 degrees Celsius (111.02 degrees Fahrenheit) have scorched Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Anhui and Xinjiang in recent days, state broadcaster CCTV said.
On the coast, Zhejiang’s provincial capital, Hangzhou, recorded a historical high of more than 107F on Saturday. The city of 12.5 million people is expected to swelter under temperatures exceeding 104F through Sunday.
In nearby Shanghai, the maximum load, or demand, on its power grid exceeded 40 million kilowatts for the first time on Friday as 104F temperatures increased electricity consumption in the city of nearly 25 million people, according to industry news outlet BJX.com.
Customers cooling off at an IKEA store in Hangzhou, China, on Sunday.CFOTO via Getty ImagesChinese meteorologists say the record heat this year has been aggravated by high continental temperatures owing to global warming, even as the weather phenomenon La Niña brings cooler-than-average sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific.
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