China records warmest temperature in 2024

The photo depicts the changes in China's average temperature during the period from 1961 to 2024. (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn)

China's average temperature in 2024 reached 10.92 C, seeing 1.03 C higher than the historical average and making it the warmest year on record since complete meteorological observations began in 1961, according to China Meteorological Administration.

Data from Weather China, the public weather service center of CMA, shows that the average temperatures last year across all provinces and regions on the Chinese mainland ranked among the top four warmest years in observation history, including 22 of them having recorded the warmest year since 1961.

The second warmest year on record was 2023, followed by 2021 in third place and 2022 in fourth. The top four warmest years have occurred within the past four years, and all of the top 10 warmest years have been recorded in the 21st century, the center said.

It is evident that average temperatures from the years before the 21st century rarely reached the 30-year climate baseline from 1991 to 2020, while most years after 2000 have consistently exceeded the benchmark.

"Over the past two decades, the trend of elevated temperatures has become increasingly apparent, illustrating the impact of global warming," the center said.

The year 2025 has also begun with warmer-than-average temperatures. On Wednesday afternoon, much of the area south of the Yangtze River experienced temperatures exceeding 15 C — far from the biting cold temperatures typically expected during this winter period.

For instance, the afternoon high at around 3 pm reached 17.3 C in cities like Changsha in Hunan province, which is similar to the average temperature of late March in previous years.

Over the next four to five days, the city's daily high temperatures are expected to hover around 15 C, more than 4 C above the seasonal norm, according to the center.

Meanwhile, the World Meteorological Organization announced on Monday that the year 2024 is set to be the warmest on record, capping a decade of unprecedented heat fueled by human activities.

"We have just endured a decade of deadly heat. The top 10 hottest years on record have happened in the last 10 years, including 2024," said United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in his message for the New Year.