At least nine people have been confirmed dead in the floods and many others are reported injured or missing. High rainfall and flooding are common during the monsoon season in South Korea, with average rainfall of up to 10mm per day and 250mm in August. However, this week’s rainfall accumulations far exceeded these typical conditions. We can expect to see continued extreme flood scenarios in the future, as average temperatures across the Korean peninsula have increased by about 1.7 C since 1912. Warmer air can hold more moisture and therefore more frequent and heavy rainfall will occur. . East Asia has also experienced extreme heat over the past week, particularly affecting China. The temperature at Shanghai’s Xujiahui Station reached 40.1 degrees Celsius on Thursday. Since records began in 1873, there have been 20 instances of temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius in Shanghai, six of which occurred in 2022. In addition to extreme heat across China, drought is becoming a growing problem, especially for the Yangtze River Basin, which makes up one-fifth of China’s total land area and contains one-third of China’s population. As of July, the basin had seen only 40% of the rainfall it had during the same period last year, with some areas seeing 20 straight days without any measurable rainfall. The water level in the main stream of the river is about 5 meters lower than this time last year. The drought is affecting 830,000 people, along with large tracts of agricultural land. Little or no rain is likely over the next week in the basin, with intense heat prevailing and the drought worsening.
