Since 1950s, summer mean temperature in the region has increased by 0.82 °C
Eastern China, which witnessed its hottest summer and a massive drought in 2013, is expected to increasingly experience similar heat waves. At least 50 per cent of its summers by 2024 will be as hot as the 2013 summer, say scientists.
According to a research published in journal Nature Climate Change, scientists in Beijing, Canada and the United States said the probability of a 2013-like summer in eastern China had increased by a factor of 60 since the early 1950s.
“Summer (June–August) mean temperature in the region has increased by 0.82 °C since reliable observations were established in the 1950s, with the five hottest summers all occurring in the twenty-first century,” says the study.
According to a report published in phys.org http://phys.org/news/2014-10-eastern-china-record-hot-summers.html , the summer of 2013 was the hottest on record in eastern China—a massive 1.1 degrees Celsius (two degrees Fahrenheit) above the long-term average. The report further adds that on 31 days, the temperature reached or exceeded the heatwave benchmark of 35 degrees Celsius—more than double the usual June-August tally. The team, led by Xuebin Zhang of Environment Canada in Toronto, extrapolated temperatures on the basis of the region's weather from 1955 to 2013 and on internationally-used simulations for global warming. "By 2024, at least 50 per cent of summers will be as hot as the 2013 summer," say scientists.
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