The North China Plain is about to be hit by 47°C extreme heat weather! Is this news true? The global temperature map of Asia released by the United States Weather Service shows that by May 25, there will be an extreme high temperature of 47 °C in most parts of southern Hebei, northern Henan and Shandong, and the North China Plain is particularly eye-catching on the map of the entire Asia, and the high temperature even exceeds that of the Xinjiang desert! Although the number of 47°C may sound exaggerated, next week's heat wave will roll in, and the high temperature close to 40°C will certainly be inevitable in the North China Plain.
There has been no effective rainfall for more than two consecutive months, and the North China Plain has ushered in a "scorching mode". Everyone knows that the North China Plain is the main grain producing area on the mainland, especially winter wheat, which accounts for 80% of the country's total output. However, the recent "white ears" phenomenon in a large area of wheat fields here will seriously affect this year's wheat production. Coupled with the continued drought and lack of rainfall, and the strong heat and dry winds in the fields, the agricultural harvest in the North China Plain is likely to be greatly reduced this year.
What's even more terrifying is that the research team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States has made a startling projection: if climate change is not controlled, by the end of this century in 2070-2100, the North China Plain may become uninhabitable due to persistent extreme heat! They found that due to the special topography of the North China Plain, which is "surrounded by mountains on three sides", the exhaust gases such as carbon dioxide, haze, and water vapor produced in densely populated areas are not easy to diffuse quickly, and the heat is very easy to gather, and the North China Plain is very likely to become one of the hottest regions on the planet in the future.
So why is the summer in the North China Plain getting hotter and hotter in recent years, and the hot weather is frequent? American scientists believe that large-scale agricultural irrigation is one of the culprits. As we all know, precipitation is scarce in North China, and agricultural production requires a large amount of groundwater pumping for irrigation. While bursts of cold well water can briefly cool the scorching land, excess groundwater exposure to the scorching sun can accelerate evaporation, making the air more humid and exacerbating the intensity of the heat wave. Research by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) shows that large-scale agricultural irrigation raises local wet-bulb temperatures by about 0.5°C.
In addition, the North China Plain is also an important industrial base on the mainland, and a large number of chemical, thermal and power industries in the region have emitted huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, accelerating local warming. The biggest culprit of the greenhouse effect is not carbon dioxide, but water vapor, which accounts for up to 70%. As agricultural irrigation intensifies water evaporation and air humidity increases, water vapor absorbs more of the sun's heat, and the North China Plain is like a giant "steamer" that covers the heat overhead.
Once upon a time, the North China Plain was a habitable place with warm winters and cool summers. Thirty or forty years ago, the older generation did not have air conditioning, and they could still spend the summer comfortably. Nowadays, the summer heat is pressing, and it is often a weekly 38°C + high temperature warning, which makes people desperately hot. In the face of intensifying climate change, each of us should take action to save water and reduce emissions, and contribute to the future of the North China Plain. Do you think the North China Plain can still be saved? What can we do to reverse this?
What do you think about this? Feel free to interact with me in the comment section!