The ongoing climate disaster in China

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As the effects of the climate catastrophe start to clarify we’ll also see more clarity about how each different political region responds to it.

China is huge, with a big range of topography and climate, and the theoretically unifying oversight of the authoritarian government.

They‘ve got certain energy policies that seem very forward thinking and others that are very retrospective.

I’m certainly no expert here, but as per a short discussion in another thread, I do think we need a dedicated China thread in this forum.


For a start:


For background:

Natural Disaster Challenges in China: Key Trends and Insights | GFDRR

www.gfdrr.org

Extreme weather in China highlights climate change impacts and need for early warnings

Extreme weather – record-breaking heatwaves, severe drought, and deadly rainfall – have battered China since June. The summer of extremes – in China as in Europe – has underlined the importance of the WMO community’s commitment to Early Warning and Early Action and reinforced the need for the...

public.wmo.int

Record rainfall and scorching heat wave cause havoc in China

Since the start of summer, scenes of devastation and misery have emerged from across China, as the world's most populous nation grapples with an unrelenting torrent of extreme weather emergencies.

edition.cnn.com

Chinese Cities Aren’t Ready for Climate Disasters

As global warming brings more extreme weather, there’s unprecedented public discussion over what needs to be done to prepare for worsening floods and heatwaves.

www.bloomberg.com

Currently:

Floods

China floods leave at least 12 dead, with thousands evacuated

Another 12 missing in flash floods in Sichuan and Gansu, as some areas receive double their monthly rain in less than two days

www.theguardian.com

China's drought-hit areas get rain, bringing flood risks

More than 100,000 people have been evacuated to safer areas as heavy rains bring flood risks to a region of southwest China that was devastated by heat and drought for most of the summer

abcnews.go.com

Drought

China’s drought revealed in dramatic pictures after longest heatwave on record

China is suffering with the longest and most widespread heatwave on record

www.independent.co.uk

China drought causes Yangtze to dry up, sparking shortage of hydropower

Nationwide alert issued with south-west especially badly hit, as major companies forced to suspend work

www.theguardian.com

CORRECTED Chinese drillers work 15-hour days building wells in drought-hit Jiangxi

Teams of drillers are working long hours to build wells to fight a devastating drought sweeping parts of China, farmers in Jiujiang city in the country's central Jiangxi province told Reuters on Saturday.

www.reuters.com

Heatwave

Explained | China’s record heatwave, drought and the fallout

China’s longest sustained heatwave and drought has disrupted water supply and caused a power crunch leading to factory shutdowns

www.thehindu.com

Video of Covid nurse in China hospitalized with heatstroke sparks backlash

“Every day when I finally get off work, the only thing I want to do is take a shower and fall asleep,” one health worker said.

www.nbcnews.com

Obvs there’s a lot of cross- overs here.

 

[Pickman's model]

As the effects of the climate catastrophe start to clarify we’ll also see more clarity about how each different political region responds to it.

this is merely the orchestra tuning up, we've not even got to the overture yet

 

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this is merely the orchestra tuning up, we've not even got to the overture yet

I know. going to get a lot worse.

Depressing innit.

But I still say we’re starting to see it clarify.

So if it’s the tuning up, we can now hear each of the different instruments, if we listen for it.

 

[skyscraper101]

The CCP have form for environmental disasters. They never learn

May as well add this one too

China speeding up approvals for new coal plants: Greenpeace

China has ramped up approvals for new coal power plants this year, Greenpeace said Wednesday, with authorities trying to lower the risk of economically painful electricity shortages.

www.france24.com

 

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It’s not a bad analogy though Pickman's model

During the tuning uo, some people choose to listen, others prefer to ignore it






(See also sound check. some nights at The Windmill bands line check or sound check in between the sets, just before they go on. There’s a tacit agreement in the crowd that even if they go into an actual song no one will pay attention, it’s relatively private space for the band. Some people like to pay attention tho, you can learn a lot about a band when you watch them sound check)

 

[story]

The CCP have form for environmental disasters. They never learn

May as well add this one too

China speeding up approvals for new coal plants: Greenpeace

China has ramped up approvals for new coal power plants this year, Greenpeace said Wednesday, with authorities trying to lower the risk of economically painful electricity shortages.

www.france24.com

Drought means their hydro power is becoming unreliable. So I guess that’s driving their insistence on coal plants too.

China’s hydroelectric network dries up alongside Yangtze River

The world’s third-largest river is suffering an historic drought, plunging many areas of China into a power crisis and revealing structures lost for centuries beneath the waterline. The Yangtze River is drying up as China continues to grapple with extreme…

environmentjournal.online

China: Sichuan power crisis eases as temperatures fall, but drought continues | DW | 28.08.2022

Following several weeks of power cuts that hit large industrial producers, power has started to return to normal. A record-breaking heat wave and drought are to blame for the crisis.

www.dw.com

This will add to the cost of living crisis elsewhere

Car-charging stations, factories shut down in China as drought cripples hydroelectric power

Red China is red-hot, with a heat wave accompanied by a drought drying up the Yangtze River, crippling hydroelectric power in Sichuan province and the neighboring municipality of Chongqing.

www.washingtontimes.com

But there’s also this story, they’re ramping up their expansion in Africa and that includes sourcing clean power form there. It looks like it’s a win-win for all parties involved but I’m skeptical about such claims by default.

China's clean energy investments growing rapidly in Africa

www.chinadaily.com.cn