BEIJING
\nBeijing residents sought shade and cooled off in canals on Monday as authorities issued the second-highest heat warning for the Chinese capital on one of its hottest days of the year so far.
\nChina has endured a string of extreme summers in recent years, with heatwaves baking northern regions even as parts of the south have seen catastrophic rain and flooding.
\nAuthorities in the city of 22 million people urged the public to take precautions, with temperatures expected to peak at around 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s been really hot lately, especially in the past few days,\u201d intern Li Weijun told AFP on Monday afternoon.
\nThe 22-year-old said he had stopped wearing formal clothes to work and delayed his daily exercise until after 10:00 p.m. to stay safe.
\n\u201cI think it\u2019s related to climate change, and maybe also to the damage done to nature,\u201d he said.
\nAn orange heat warning \u2014 the second-highest in a three-tier system \u2014 was issued on Monday as officials encouraged people to limit outdoor activity and drink more fluids to avoid heatstroke.
\nConstruction workers should \u201cshorten the amount of time consecutively spent at labor,\u201d while elderly, sick or weakened individuals ought to \u201cavoid excessive exertion,\u201d according to the guidelines.
\nZhang Chen, 28, said she carried an umbrella outdoors to prevent sunburn.
\n\u201cI used to ride a bike, but once it gets this hot, I basically stop doing that,\u201d the IT worker told AFP.
\nDespite the beating sun, legions of delivery drivers zipped through downtown areas at noon to bring sustenance to Beijing\u2019s office workers.
\nA few lazed on the backs of their scooters in a shady spot, while elsewhere, people cooled off with ice creams or by taking a dip in the city\u2019s canals.
\nBeijing is still a few degrees short of breaking its record for the hottest-ever June day, set at 41.1C in 2023.
\nHuman greenhouse gas emissions are driving climate change that causes longer, more frequent and more intense heatwaves.
\nChina is the world\u2019s largest producer of carbon dioxide, a potent greenhouse gas, though it has pledged to bring its emissions to a peak by the end of this decade and to net zero by 2060.
\nThe country has also emerged as a global leader in renewable energy in recent years as it seeks to pivot its massive economy away from highly polluting coal consumption.
\nIn a shady spot near an office building, 42-year-old Lucy Lu spent her lunch break with friends, kicking a shuttlecock through the air \u2014 a traditional Chinese game known as \u201cjianzi.\u201d
\n\u201cI was born and raised in Beijing, and summer here has always been like this,\u201d she said.
\n\u201cBut I do think when the temperature goes over 40C, there should be some time off or work-from-home options to reduce the risk of heatstroke.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BEIJING Beijing residents sought shade and cooled off in canals on Monday as authorities issued the second-highest heat warning for the Chinese capital on one of its hottest days of the year so far. China has endured a string of extreme summers in recent years, with heatwaves baking northern regions even as parts of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":486130,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-486116","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n