In the southwestern megacity of Chongqing, home to 31 million, authorities on Monday declared that all shopping malls must only operate between 4:00pm and 9:00pm daily to cut power costs until the "temperature and supply-demand situation" changes. That has resulted in high pressure on hydroelectric plants that supply power to some of the country's key economic zones. The heatwave has reduced stretches of the Yangtze River, China's most vital inland waterway, to unprecedented drought levels, according to official data. Ornamental lights, billboards and video screens on both sides of the Huangpu River would be turned off on Monday and Tuesday, according to the notice. To save power, Shanghai authorities said in a notice Sunday that they would switch off "landscape lighting" at the Bund, the city's most famous landmark. Multiple provinces have announced power cuts to cope with a surge in demand, driven partly by people cranking up the air conditioning to cope with temperatures as high as 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit).Ĭhina has been hit by extreme weather this summer, including record temperatures, flash floods and droughts-phenomena that scientists have warned are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change.
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