A study of weather patterns from 1961 to 2010 by the Guangdong Province Meteorological Bureau showed that average temperatures in the Pearl River Delta are going up 0.3 degrees celsius every ten years, Sina News reports.

In south China, the average temperature has been going up 0.16 degrees celsius every decade and during winter it has been going up 0.27 degrees celsius every ten years. This could threaten both economic and ecological development according to the report “The South China Climate Change Assessment.”

Du Yaodong, an expert from the bureau, reported that in south China, the number of hazy days had increased and the number of foggy and rainy days had decreased significantly.

Du then claimed that the main reason for the increase in temperature was anthropogenic climate change, and it was exacerbated in the PRD because of rapid urbanisation.

Du warned that extreme weather events would become more common in south China, and agriculture and water and energy resources would be hit hard. He also claimed that rising sea levels would affect economic development on the south coast and that heat waves and fog would increase the spread of diseases such as dengue fever and malaria.