2024 Was China's Warmest Year Since 1961, Shanghai Roasted

The year 2024 was the warmest in China for more than six decades – since comparable records began in the early 1960s, according to local meteorological data.

The national average temperature stood at 10.9 degrees Celsius (51.66 Fahrenheit) last year, a degree higher than 2023 and the second year in a row that milestones have been achieved, according to weather.com.cn, a portal run by the China Meteorological Administration.

The 10 warmest years since records started in 1961 were all in the 21st century, it said.

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For densely populated Shanghai, China’s financial hub, 2024 was the warmest since the Qing dynasty, data from the Shanghai meteorological bureau showed on Wednesday, January 1.

The city’s average temperature stood at 18.8 Celsius, the hottest since Shanghai’s meteorological records began in 1873.

Last year’s warmer weather, accompanied by stronger storms and higher rainfall, led to spikes in power consumption in the world’s second-largest economy.

Sweltering heat also affected agriculture in regions including the rice-growing south.

To safeguard its food security in the face of rising temperatures, China has embarked on research into adapting staple crops to heat.

Crop yields are expected to fall if alternatives are not found.

Scientists at a Beijing research facility found potatoes, of which China is the world’s top producer, weighed less than 50% of typical varieties if they grew in a chamber set at 3 degrees Celsius above the norm.

Under current climate policies, the world faces warming of as much as 3.1 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2100, according to a United Nations report released in October.