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BEIJING, May 29 (Reuters) – China expects El Ni\u00f1o weather effects to peak in autumn and winter this year, before weakening in spring \u200cnext year, China’s National Climate Centre said on Friday.<\/p>\n
Sea surface temperatures \u200cin the equatorial central and eastern Pacific have entered an El Ni\u00f1o state, and will develop \u200binto a moderate or higher intensity El Ni\u00f1o event in summer and autumn before peaking in autumn and winter, the Climate Centre’s deputy director, Gao Rong, told reporters.<\/p>\n
“The probability of strong El Ni\u00f1o events is increasing, and it is expected \u200cto weaken next spring.”<\/p>\n
El \u2060Ni\u00f1o is a natural weather pattern linked to a warming of the central and eastern Pacific, bringing heavier rainfall to \u2060the Pacific coast of the Americas. In the Western Pacific, the shift can disrupt the East Asian monsoon, raising the odds of flooding in southern China and \u200bdrought in \u200bother Chinese regions.<\/p>\n
This spring and summer, El \u200bNi\u00f1o is in a period \u200cof rapid development, with the atmosphere responding significantly to sea temperature changes, Gao said.<\/p>\n
This is likely to enhance precipitation south of the Yangtze River, while temperatures across most of China are expected to be higher than usual.<\/p>\n
Increased autumn rainfall in China’s southern regions as a result of El Ni\u00f1o also raises \u200cthe risk of disruption to the harvest of \u200blate-season rice, while warmer-than-usual winter conditions could \u200breduce available water supplies for \u200bnext year’s spring ploughing.<\/p>\n
China’s Southern Power Grid said on Friday \u200cthat since the start of this year, \u200bthe entire power \u200bgrid network, as well as the provinces and regions of Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Hainan have hit new peak power loads more \u200bthan 20 times, “breaking the seasonal \u200cpattern of annual peaks concentrated in June and July from 2020 \u200bto 2025.”<\/p>\n
(Reporting by the Beijing newsroom; Writing by Farah Master; \u200bEditing by Jacqueline Wong and Stephen Coates)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n