Weather puts climate change in spotlight

With more heavy rain forecast, southern China is battling two extremes of weather linked to climate change – deadly flooding in Guangdong and drought about 1,000km upstream in Yunnan province. In the wake of floods that left at least four dead and displaced tens of thousands in central-northern areas along the Bei, a southern tributary of the Pearl River, the main rainbands moved south on Tuesday to the coast, including the cities of Shenzhen, on the border with Hong Kong, Zhuhai, Jiangmen and Yangjiang.

The storms disrupted public and private transport and prompted authorities to warn against “flash floods, landslides, mudslides and other disasters”. Helicopters and rubber boats were deployed to rescue people and deliver supplies. After a brief respite, forecasters expect more heavy rain from today.

Meanwhile, the hydropower, grain-growing and aluminium smelting hub of Yunnan is facing its worst drought in 60 years, affecting production of all three. This follows a 42.3 per cent drop in rainfall this year up to last week, according to the Ministry for Water Resources. Yunnan is home to six of China’s top 10 hydroelectric power plants in terms of generating capacity, and is a major supplier of electricity to the Guangdong manufacturing hub.

While the flooding is a reminder to be prepared for sudden climate-linked extreme events, including fires and violent storms, the drought is a wake-up call about longer term consequences for the climate of failure to rein in carbon emissions.

Guangdong is prone to summer flooding, as evidenced in June two years ago with the heaviest downpours in six decades. This time the onset of record rain in April makes the issue of special bonds by the government to finance anti-flooding work look prescient, in the face of other urgent demands on public financing.

Such extreme weather can have a damaging socio-economic impact. The two events – flooding downstream and drought upstream – serve to illustrate just how critical the climate-change issue is – not just for China but globally. Such situations are only going to become more commonplace.