Shanghai issued its highest heat wave alert for the second time this week, forecasting that temperatures in parts of Pudong district will exceed 40 degrees.
The city of about 25 million people, one of China’s vital hubs for commerce and shipping, issued its first red heat alert of the year on Thursday after temperatures in the center of Shanghai hit 40 degrees, the weather bureau stated. The Shanghai Pudong New Area Meteorological Bureau released a statement on Saturday at 12:06pm with the latest disaster weather warning for parts of Pudong district.
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Shanghai’s highest temperature was 40.9 degrees, recorded in 1873 and repeated two years ago, according to the weather bureau.
Local authorities have urged businesses and citizens to take precautionary measures, including fire prevention. As part of its efforts to ensure power supplies at a time of rocketing air-conditioning demand, Shanghai’s government has ordered landscape lighting in the metropolis to switch off an hour early.
China’s eastern, central and western regions have been struck by extreme weather conditions this summer, believed to be caused by climate change. The government has stepped up disaster-relief efforts after heavy rains lashed different parts of the country in recent weeks, killing dozens of people and displacing thousands, damaging infrastructure and threatening industrial and agricultural production.
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