Ice festival wilts in global warming heat
Climate change is being blamed for problems at the annual ice festival in Harbin, China. Huge intricate sculptures are disappearing before the thousands of tourists that flock to the festival get to see them.
“"The average temperature of winter in Harbin is 5 degrees Celsius higher than historical records,” says Yin Xuemian, a senior meteorologist at the Heilongjiang Observatory (Reuters). “In December 2002, ice lanterns in Harbin melted right after they were sculpted. [In 2006] Lots of money and energy were spent on redoing the sculptures. As the temperature rises, the period of ice and snow activities have shortened dramatically.”
AFP says this year’s festival has been a big success. Participants are concerned though, one told China Daily, “We’re all worried that the things will just collapse.” The festival is supposed to run until February. “We're worried it won't last that long this year,” Sun Lei, an official involved in the festival, told the BBC.
A rise of 5 C is pretty large. Estimates are generally far lower although these tend to be averaged over large areas. See Late-Twentieth-Century Climatology and Trends of Surface Humidity and Temperature in China.
Alternatively, you can geek out with the raw data from NASA's GISS Surface Temperature Analysis, which allows you to make maps of the trends. There’s even monitoring data from Harbin itself, although this isn’t totally up to date.
Image: Getty
Cross-posted from Daniel Cressey on The Great Beyond
Comments
And we're sure this is global warming in Harbin rather than the effect of an urban heat island because...?
Link
Through 50 years of development, especially since China initiated the reform and open policy in 1979, Harbin has grown into a comprehensive city with such domestically advanced key industries as electronics, bearing, pharmaceuticals, and flax.
It ranks 13th among the top 50 cities in terms of economic strength in China, and is one of the 40 cities with the best investment conditions in the country. In 1995, it generated gross domestic product (GDP) of 39.35 billion yuan, an
increase of 12.6% over the previous year, and the per capita GDP averaged 6,917 yuan. Included were the added value of the primary industry totaling 4.84 billion yuan. By the end of 1995, it had formed 73 enterprise groups.
Posted by: Sid | January 10, 2008 06:33 PM
It's very sad to see Nature mistaking weather for climate. I thought you guys were scientists.
Posted by: Bishop Hill | January 11, 2008 09:21 PM
Hmm, nothing from Nature Climate Feedback on the current cold weather in China which is apparently aleady affecting food supplies.
I wonder why not?
Posted by: Bishop Hill | February 1, 2008 01:47 PM