Shanghai- other cities in Yangtze Basin issue red alerts

Subject : Geography

Section : Climatology

The Yangtze Basin in China has been experiencing an unusual heatwave since the past one week, with mega cities in its basin ranging from Chongqing to Shanghai affected.
Chongqing, one of the four municipalities of China directly under the rule of the central government (besides Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai) witnessed four consecutive days with temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius (°C) or above.
Only 17 red alerts have been recorded since 1873, when record-keeping began. But Shanghai was forced to issue three red alerts in the past five days.
China’s maximum power load reached an all-time high July 12 due to increased demand for air cooling.
The provinces of Gansu, Qinghai, Shaanxi and Sichuan as well as the autonomous region of Ningxia have also seen record-breaking high temperatures.