NYT - A Visitor In Sichuan Reviews Life At 113F Without Electricity: "Practically Unlivable"

[hatrack]

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But the heat wave that baked China for weeks was startling in its scale, duration and intensity. Through July and August, it shattered temperature records, dried up rivers, withered crops, sparked wildfires and caused deaths from heatstroke. It may have been the most severe heat wave ever recorded. And it laid bare frightening realities about how humanity is expected to adapt. With temperatures as high as 113 degrees Fahrenheit, electricity usage soared as hundreds of millions of Chinese switched on air-conditioners. But where was that power supposed to come from? Severe drought had dried up the rivers on which the country depends for much of its clean hydroelectricity, crippling output.

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In Sichuan, the majestic, raging mountain rivers that we had anticipated were no more: The hot, dry weather had reduced them to a trickle, and the deep swimming holes that we had picked out on the internet barely had enough water to reach my knees. Our hopes of gathering around a campfire each night were dashed by a ban imposed to limit wildfire risks in the bone-dry landscape. Driving back out of the relative cool of the mountains, we were hit by the full force of the heat wave. Vast stretches of the country’s central, southern and southwestern lowlands sweltered.

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Subway stations were blacked out. At night, buildings were darkened and streetlights were dimmed. We fled the deserted streets one day for refuge in a mall, hoping to cool down, but restrictions on electricity had left it as hot and humid as the outdoors. A city of more than 20 million people had become practically unlivable.

Chengdu wasn’t the only place. At least 262 weather stationsnationwide tied or set heat records, and rivers that are important arteries for shipping and transportation became unnavigable. Water levels in the Yangtze, the world’s third-longest river, hit record lows, dropping as much as 20 feet below recent averages. Chickens died or struggled to lay eggs, pigs were hosed down by fire trucks to keep them cool and Sichuan’s famed pandas lay on blocks of ice. People hoisted food to their apartments using buckets and ropes because the power blackouts had left elevators idled. Some simply fled to underground tunnels to stay cool.

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https://climatecrocks.com/2022/09/12/chinas-water-crisis-has-global-implications/#more-77693

[hlthe2b]

1. I fear this. The only way I get through intense heat increasingly worsening is to NOT use A/C

because habituation to the artificial cool leaves me unable to really adapt to a sudden loss via blackout or even to do the things I need to do outdoors. I just can't bear it. This has been a miserable summer in the west with record continuous days of the upper 90s-100s. But lots of fans, a small portable swamp (evaporative) cooler, sleeping with cool packs, and spending most time downstairs or in the basement. I get up before sunrise to do long walks with the pup whose love of winter and sluggishness in summer mimics my own.

But 113? Heavens. What a grim future we've ensured. Do the human-affected climate change-denying RW "religious" really think their God is going to save us? Seems to me a God worth his/her salt would expect humans-- granted all the intelligence and abilities to dominate the earth-- to address it and save themselves. But, that's just me. sigh...

[Eyeball_Kid]

4. Unfettered capitalism is short-sighted and destroys the ecosphere.

Coal is still burned to provide electricity, including air conditioning. (And we're not mentioning the burning of petroleum!) While the planet continues to heat up, our fossil fuels are still pouring toxicity into the atmosphere, non-stop. A more intelligent species would get it. We don't. Humans are fatally flawed. We're destroying the livability of the only livable planet we know. And those who control the burning of fossil fuels value their profits more than the health of the entire planet.

[Farmer-Rick]

2. Well, with all those cloud free days

Solar energy seems to be the only answer.

How can the Chinese not see the obvious solution?

But most governments are pretending there is no global warming, so it's difficult to address a problem you can't see.

[HUAJIAO]

3. So sorry to hear this about Sichuan, and especially Chengdu,

one of my favorite cities in all the world.