After Beijing had its warmest June day on record, the Chinese government issued a red heat alert, the highest level of its color-coded alert system, for the northern portions of the nation. On Friday morning, 185 red alerts were issued for various parts of northern and eastern China, including Beijing, Tianjin, and the provinces of Hebei and Shandong. According to official weather agencies, Beijing, home to over 22 million people, has issued a red alert for the first time since 2014.
After setting a June record of 41.1C (106F) on Thursday, the temperature in the capital city dropped to a more comfortable 40C (104F). On June 10, 1961, the temperature reached 40.6C (105F), which was the previous record high for the month of June. Even though summers in Beijing are notoriously hot, scientists claim that recent months have seen record highs across China due to climate change. One user on the Chinese microblogging service Weibo summed up the sentiments of many others when they posted, “This weather is not human and it is only the month of June!” People walking the streets of Beijing were observed donning sun protection items including visors, caps, and masks. Some others went to the canals in the city to cool off from the sun.
China’s weather agency reported a high of 43 degrees Celsius (109 degrees Fahrenheit) on Thursday in the coastal province of Shandong, which borders the Yellow Sea. According to reports in the local media, 17 weather stations in the area set new high temperature records. High temperatures are forecast to last for another week to ten days in areas of northern China, according to the China Meteorological Administration. On Friday, officials cautioned that the prolonged period of high temperatures might be dangerous to health, urging people to spend less time outside and drink at least 1.5 liters of water daily.
