China, Cyprus, Turkey. An October studded with heat records
Environment — di Valentina Neri
In early October, three heat records were broken in three days, in Turkey, Cyprus and China, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees.
China, Cyprus, Turkey. An October studded with heat records
In early October, three heat records were broken in three days, in Turkey, Cyprus and China, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees.
- In early October 2022, seasonal heat records were broken in several countries, including Turkey, Cyprus and China.
- In China, these anomalous temperatures came at the end of a scorching summer.
41.2 degrees Celsius in Antalya, Turkey, on Saturday 1 October. 41.2 degrees on the island of Cyprus on 2 October. 40.9 degrees in Qingyang county, in China's Anhui province, on 3 October. Three heat records broken in three days. If the preliminary data released by meteorologist Scott Duncan were to be confirmed, these would be the highest temperatures ever recorded in these three countries in October, a month that is typically autumnal in the northern hemisphere.
Extreme heat to start October with 3 national records.
🇹🇷 Turkey +41.2°C
🇨🇾 Cyprus +41.2°C
🇨🇳 China +40.9°C
The Chinese October heat record has been broken numerous times in the last few days and breaks a record set last year!
🇹🇷 Turkey +41.2°C
🇨🇾 Cyprus +41.2°C
🇨🇳 China +40.9°C
The Chinese October heat record has been broken numerous times in the last few days and breaks a record set last year!
China's heat records broken one after another
There seems to be no respite for Chinese citizens. Already this summer they had to endure an interminable heatwave lasting two consecutive months, the most severe ever recorded in the world according to New Scientist. At the time, the heat record was set on 18 August, with 45 degrees in Chongqing, in Sichuan province; before that, higher temperatures had only been recorded in the desert region of Xinjiang. Also in Chongqing, on 20 August, the mercury never dropped below 34.9 degrees: the minimum temperature had never been so high in the country's history. In several major cities, refreshment points were set up inside metro stations.
Temperatures entirely anomalous for the Chinese autumn
It was hoped that autumn would bring some relief, but that has not been the case. The agricultural provinces of southern China, such as Jiangxi, are grappling with a drought that is on course to be the worst in five decades. Further north, the sweltering temperatures are entirely unusual for this time of year — such as the 40.9 degrees in Qingyang county. It is the national record for the month of October, when the average usually sits at around 20 degrees. "It is really abnormal, nobody has experienced this kind of heat record in October," Fang Keyan, a climatologist at Fujian University, told CNN.
The situation is equally anomalous, but in the opposite direction, in other northern and central areas of the country. Due to cold air currents affecting northern regions, China's National Meteorological Centre (NMC) issued its first snow warning on Sunday 2 October — unusually early. The first snowfall is also expected in Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang. A very long and scorching summer followed by a sudden cold snap, Fang Keyan points out, risks causing crop yields to collapse and putting the forests of the subtropical region under severe stress.