China's Heatwave Crushing Previous Records - As Hydro Output Falters, Coal Plants Ramp Up Output

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Receding waters in Poyang Lake, in China's Jiangxi province, on Aug. 21. The lake has shrunk dramatically in a record-breaking heat wave. (AFP/Getty Images)

The unprecedented heat wave that has engulfed China this summer has dried up rivers, wilted crops and sparked forest fires. It has grounded ships, caused hydropower shortages and forced major cities to dim lights. Receding waters have revealed long-submerged ancient bridges and Buddhist statues. Among the many striking images is a pattern left in the mud flats around Poyang Lake, usually the largest body of freshwater in the country, which has shrunk by more than two-thirds. Chinese media dubbed the branchlike patterns carved by trickling waters “Earth tree,” calling its appearance a warning about a dangerous future of intensifying extreme weather.

At 73 days and counting, the relentless heat wave has easily surpassed the previous record of 62 days in 2013. All-time highs are being broken, often only to be re-broken days later. “This heat wave overtakes anything seen previously worldwide,” tweeted climate historian Maximiliano Herrera. Numerous fires have started across China over the past week amid high heat and drought, with particularly intense blazes near Chongqing, a city along the trickling Yangtze, in central parts of the country. Chongqing recorded low temperatures as high as 95 degrees in recent days, a record for daily minimums in August. Electricity shortages in regions reliant on a vast network of power-generating dams and reservoirs for energy also come as the Chinese government is debating how — and how fast — to transition from reliance on coal-fired power to renewable sources.

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The usually half-submerged Luoxing Dun, a small island with ancient temples on it, is exposed in China's Poyang Lake this week. (Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images)

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Water-level poles illustrate the extreme drought conditions in Changxing, Zhejiang province, on Aug. 20. (Aly Song/Reuters)

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Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s plan for China’s carbon dioxide emissions to peak before 2030 is spurring a massive rollout of wind and solar power. But China’s government has also said that coal — a leading contributor to global greenhouse gases — in the near term will remain the mainstay of national energy production. Power shortages create a prime opportunity for China’s fossil fuel giants to secure their place in the nation’s rapidly evolving energy structure, said Philip Andrews-Speed, a senior fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Energy Studies Institute.

“After this crisis, the coal lobby will be saying, ‘This is why you need to have more coal mines and more coal-fired power plants,’ ” he said. “As in Europe, the key is keeping the lights on and keeping the heating and the air conditioning going. That is the short-term priority.” After Sichuan’s hydropower output fell below half of its normal level, 67 coal-fired power plants in the province were “firing on all cylinders” to generate as much power as possible as part of China’s emergency response to the shortage, Chinese state media reported Tuesday.

Ed. - Alrighty then!! Emphasis added

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/08/24/china-drought-heat-wave-climate-change/