China major cities warmer than usual in April

Posted by Admin
Tue May 13 20:36:36 PDT 2008

BEIJING, May 12 (Reuters) - Temperatures in 10 major cities across China in April were all above their long-term averages and mostly higher than official forecasts, data from the China Meteorological Administration showed.

Northeastern Harbin, with the highest latitude among China's big cities and often the coldest largest city, continued to lead the rises, with actual average temperatures nearly four degrees Celsius higher above its historical average for the same month between 1971-2000.

Temperatures in Shenyang, another industrial hub in the northeast, were also two degrees above its historical averages.

China's capital Beijing and financial hub Shanghai were also warmer, with temperatures 1.7 and 1.4 degrees higher than their normal levels, respectively.

If the increases persist into the summer when power demand peaks, they would further strain China's power sector that was already expected to face coal shortages estimated at 250-300 million tonnes, or some 20 percent of coal demand this year.

Coal deficit in central Hubei province alone will reach 70 million tonnes as demand in power plants will rise to 80 million tonnes but local production is only one eighth of that, the China Power News reported on Tuesday.

Coal stocks at power plants in the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan region were at 950,000 tonnes as of last week, enough for only five days of generation, while more than 900 megawatts of power generation had been shut down due to a lack of coal, the Beijing Science Weekly reported on Monday, citing data from the State Grid.

2008 2008 1971

FORECAST -2000 April

North

Beijing 15.9 13.8 to 15.3 14.2

Tianjin 15.8 14.6 to 15.9 14.3

Northeast

Harbin 11.3 6.6 to 8.3 7.1

Shenyang 12.2 9.9 to 11.4 10.2

East

Shanghai 15.9 14.1 to 15.5 14.5

Southeast

Guangzhou 23.5 22.0 to 23.3 22.3