HONG KONG (Reuters) – The average temperature in China’s coastal waters rose for a second consecutive year in 2024 to a record 21.50 degrees Celsius (70.7 degrees Fahrenheit), authorities said, in a year that was the world’s hottest since records began.
China describes itself as one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries, and is coming under increasing pressure to adapt to rapidly changing weather patterns and sea levels that are rising faster than the global average.
The country faced a slew of extreme weather events last year, from the violent passage of Super Typhoon Yagi across southern Hainan in September to the strongest storm to strike Shanghai since 1949.
The average annual sea surface temperature increased 0.15 C over 2023 and 1.16 C over what it called a normal year average from 1981 to 2010, China’s National Marine Environmental Forecasting centre said on its official Wechat account on Jan. 10.
Ocean warming will lead to “frequent extreme weather and climate events”, the centre said, warning of the potential threat to livelihoods.
“Ocean warming contributes to one-third of global sea level rise, and coastal and low-lying areas face increasingly serious risks related to sea level rise, such as land erosion,” it said.
The centre said it would “closely monitor” global sea temperatures in 2025.
Global temperatures in 2024 exceeded 1.5 C above the pre-industrial era for the first time, bringing the world closer to breaching the pledge governments made under the 2015 Paris climate agreement, scientists said on Friday.
(Reporting by Farah Master and the Beijing newsroom; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
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