In the past four years, China has experienced the four hottest years since the same heat wave began in 1961.
China has experienced it A very hot year on record in 2024, a new high since the warming began 60 years ago, the country's meteorological agency said.
The global average temperature in 2024 was 10.92 degrees Celsius (51.66 degrees Fahrenheit), 1.03 degrees higher than 2023 and “the hottest year since the beginning of all records in 1961”, the China Meteorological Administration said on Wednesday night.
“The four hottest years on record in the last four years, the hottest ten years since 1961, have occurred in the 21st century,” the agency said.
Populous Shanghai, China's economic hub, recorded its hottest year in 2024 since the city's meteorological record began in 1873, data from the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau showed. The average temperature for the city was 18.8C (65.8F).
China had already experienced its hottest month on record in July last year, as well very hot August it is the hottest shoot on record.
Residents of the southern city of Guangzhou also experienced a harsh summer, with state media reporting that there were 240 days when the average temperature was above 22C (71.6F), breaking the record of 234 days set in 1994.
China's hot weather has been accompanied by strong typhoons and torrential rains, with dozens of people killed and thousands forced from their homes during floods around the country.
In May, a highway in southern China collapsed after heavy rains, killing 48 people, while Sichuan, Chongqing, and the middle Yangtze River regions suffered from heat and drought in early autumn.
Greenpeace warned last year of a “dangerous new extreme heat situation” in China and said that hotter days are coming every year and the extent of heat-affected areas in China is increasing.
“As the climate crisis increases in China, people's lives and livelihoods are affected,” the campaign group said.
The United Nations said in its end-of-year message on Monday that 2024 will be the hottest year on record for the world.
Global warming, which is driven primarily by fossil fuel burning, is not only about rising temperatures but also hitting additional heat in the atmosphere and oceans. Warm air can hold more water vapor, and warmer oceans mean more water is lost, leading to more rain and storms.
Zurich-based insurance giant Swiss Re said weather-related natural disasters caused an estimated $310bn in economic losses in 2024.