China this year saw the hottest summer since 1961 with the national average temperature reaching 22 degrees Celsius, a meteorological official has said.
The department said a total of 55 weather monitoring stations posted record high daily temperatures.
Compared to normal years, the national average reading made from June to August 26 was one degree higher, while the summer high temperatures lasted longer, covered more areas and came along with more extreme weather this year, Zhang Zuqiang, director of the emergency relief and public service department of China Meteorological Administration was quoted as saying by state-run Xinhua news agency.
In August, for instance, China’s national average temperature reached 22.2 degrees Celsius, 1.2 degrees higher than normal years. Some 93 weather stations reported extreme high temperatures mostly in Jilin, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Sichuan, Hubei and Shandong provinces.
Zhang said the lingering high temperatures in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River were detrimental to the growth of crops.
