China sees highest number of significant floods since records began
By Helen Davidson, The Guardian.
Excerpt: Halfway through the peak flood season, China has already experienced the highest number of significant floods since record keeping began in 1998, and the hottest July since 1961, authorities said on Friday. This year so far it has recorded 25 “numbered” events, which the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources defined as having water levels that prompt an official warning.... At a press conference this week, authorities said 3,683 river flood warnings and 81 mountain flood disaster warnings had been issued, state media reported. Almost 5,000 reservoirs had been put into operation diverting 99bn litres of floodwater to prevent the relocation of more than 6.5 million people. China has been hit by wild weather this summer, including heatwaves, drought, an early start to the annual flood season, .... Dozens of people have been killed and hundreds of thousands have been forced to evacuate after floods and landslides across several provinces. Thousands of homes have been damaged and crops and livestock wiped out. ...The national meteorological administration said the climate had “deviated from the norm” in China this year, driving the natural disasters. The national rainfall average was 13.3% higher than average, with 30 weather stations recording record highs. ...China is the world’s largest producer of carbon emissions, which are driving the climate crisis. It has pledged to peak emissions by 2030 and bring them to a net zero by 2060, with ambitious state-backed renewables projects. Research released last month showed that China is building almost twice as much wind and solar energy capacity than every other country combined....