China's average winter temperature reached a historic high in 2017, when temperatures for all four seasons were higher than normal due to global warming, a new report said today. The average temperature in China was 10.39 degrees Celsius last year, 0.84 degrees above normal and the third highest since 1951, according to the annual climate report released by the China Meteorological Administration. The rise showed continued global warming partly due to a rise in greenhouse gas emissions, said Song Lianchun, head of the National Climate Centre under the administration. Average precipitation rose 1.8 per cent from the normal amount to 641.3 millimeters, with a 7-per cent drop in winter and an 8-per cent drop in autumn. Total precipitation last year rose 121.4 billion cubic meters from normal to 6.09 trillion cubic meters, the report said. There were fewer droughts, typhoons and severe convective storms than normal last year, and the total area of disaster- hit farmland dropped, the report said. Meanwhile, severe smog continued to affect central China's Henan Province today, spreading to five more cities in the province, according to the local environmental protection bureau. The first round of smog to hit the province this year started last Friday and continued to affect the region this week. As of noon today, the air quality of nine Henan cities was severely polluted and another eight cities were heavily polluted, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan, was among the most polluted cities in the province.
Many citizens on the streets of Zhengzhou wore protection masks. Henan has issued an orange alert for the smog since last Friday. The province is expected to see smog from January 20 to 25 and from January 29 to February 5, according to the provincial environmental protection authorities. China has a four-tier colour-coded warning system for severe weather, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
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