BEIJING: US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate Change, John Kerry, arrived in Beijing on Sunday to kick off his four-day visit in China, during which he is expected to have a discussion on climate issues with the Chinese side, The Globl Times reported.
This trip came at the time when China recorded the hottest summers, breaching 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) in July.
“Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry will travel to Beijing, People’s Republic of China (PRC), from July 16 to July 19.
During meetings with PRC officials, Secretary Kerry aims to engage with the PRC on addressing the climate crisis, including with respect to increasing implementation and ambition and promoting a successful COP28,” State Department said in a release.
Beijing has since 1951 seen temperatures rising above 40C (104F) on 11 days, and five of them occurred over the past two weeks.
The city of 22 million has already seen a new record for its hottest day in June, with a high of 41.1C (106F) registered on June 22.
China has been gripped by scorching heat waves for weeks, which authorities said had arrived earlier and been more widespread and extreme than in previous years, according to CNN.
Northern China, a heavily populated region with hundreds of millions of residents, has been particularly hard hit.
But this is not the case only of China but the whole planet is right now suffering from the clmate crisis. The planet’s hottest day ever was recorded for four straight days earlier this month.
In the United States, an extreme heat wave is also swelling, with temperatures in the Southwest soaring as high as 120°F (49°C).
“If anything, this is the situation that should most bring China and the US back on the same page,” said Li Shuo, senior global policy adviser at Greenpeace China.
“Regardless of their political differences, the impacts of climate change have now become a common experience for both countries — it’s no longer a hypothetical crisis or analytical challenge, but a living reality that can be felt through the skin.” (ANI)