City summers now sweat 50 percent longer

IF you think recent summers seem longer, you're right – Shanghai summers in the past four years have blown out to more than 150 days, 50 percent more than the average in the 1970s, a local newspaper reported today.

So far this year's summer has lasted a record 156 days, with the average of the past four years reaching 151 days amid global warming, according to the Oriental Morning Post Report.

In the 1970s the average summer lasted 100 days, according to statistics from the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau. In the 1980s it was 103 on average, and in the 1990s it became 112.

By 2005 there were 156 summer days, with 149 in 2007 and 144 last year.

Fall is expected to be declared soon, when the average temperature falls below 22 degrees Celsius for five consecutive days. Last Friday, Shanghai's average temperature dropped to 21 degrees, with below 22 on Saturday and Sunday.

Drizzle will fall at times today and tomorrow. From Wednesday, the sky is expected to clear until Friday. The maximum temperature will range between 23 to 24 degrees Celsius until Wednesday, with overnight lows between 18 and 19 degrees, said the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau.

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