China says July was its hottest month since records began

BEIJING

Chinese weather authorities said July was the country's hottest month since records began, state media said on Thursday, as extreme temperatures persist across large parts of the globe.

Last month was "the hottest July since complete observations began in 1961, and the hottest single month in the history of observation", state broadcaster CCTV said, citing weather authorities.

The average air temperature in China last month was 23.21 degrees Celsius (73.78 degrees Fahrenheit), exceeding the previous record of 23.17 C in 2017, CCTV reported the weather authorities as saying.

The mean temperature in every province was also "higher than the average for previous years", with the southwestern provinces of Guizhou and Yunnan logging their highest ever averages, according to the report.

China is the world's biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases scientists say are driving climate change and making extreme weather more frequent and intense.

Beijing has pledged to bring emissions of carbon dioxide to a peak by 2030 and to net zero by 2060, but has resisted calls to be bolder.

The country has been blighted by extreme weather this summer, with heat waves scorching parts of the north while torrential rains have triggered floods and landslides in central and southern areas.