Many areas of China are experiencing colder weather than the average for many years.
On December 20, China’s National Meteorological Administration said temperatures in cities across the North of the country had dropped to record lows. Specifically, sub-zero temperatures broke records at five stations in the provinces and regions of Shanxi, Hebei and Inner Mongolia.
In particular, temperatures dropped to minus 33.2 degrees Celsius (minus 27.8 degrees Fahrenheit) in Shanxi province’s historic city of Datong and -27C in nearby Yangqu county.
Notably, in these areas the all-time lowest temperature record was broken on December 17 before. Temperatures also sank to a record -29.7C in Qingshuihe, Inner Mongolia; -23.3C in Baoding, Hebei; and -22C in Shunping, Hebei.
On December 18, an earthquake occurred in Gansu province, China, killing more than 130 people. Combined with the cold weather, the survivors here experienced a bone-chilling night. They can only gather around the fire to warm up.
Authorities also recently issued a warning about low temperatures in northern, eastern and southeastern China in the next 3 days.
Experts are warning that global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions makes extreme weather more likely. Not only China, many places in Asia such as Japan and Korea also recorded cold weather and temperatures dropping to very low levels.