BBC’s Fake Claims About China Floods
By Paul Homewood
The BBC is playing the climate card again!
Twelve people have died after record-breaking rainfall flooded underground railway tunnels in China, leaving passengers trapped in rising waters.
Video shared on social media shows evening commuters just managing to keep their heads above water. Water is seen rushing onto platforms.
More than 500 people were eventually rescued from the tunnels in Henan province, officials said.
Days of rain have caused widespread damage and led to 200,000 evacuations.
In the provincial capital Zhengzhou, the equivalent of a year’s average rainfall has fallen in just three days.
Henan has experienced "rare and severe rainfall" since Saturday, China’s meteorological authority said on Wednesday.
Zhengzhou saw 624mm of rainfall on Tuesday, with a third of that amount falling between 16:00 and 17:00 alone, which "smashed historical records".
It forecasted that parts of the region would continue to see "severe or extremely severe storms" and that the heavy rain would likely only end on Thursday.
Many factors contribute to flooding, but a warming atmosphere caused by climate change makes extreme rainfall more likely.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-57861067
What utter drivel!
As we know, 624mm in a day is nowhere near being a record. Typhoon Nina dumped 1631mm over the area in a single day in 1975. Over Zhenzhou itself, 804mm fell in a day. However, three years later, on July 2nd, an amazing 1894mm of rain fell there.
And many other storms have brought much daily totals well over 1000mm to the city since.
We don’t have hourly data available for 1975 (which may be why claims of a record are being made, based on just a few years of record), but it is clear from the Dutch Met Office, KNMI, that daily rains have become MUCH LESS EXTREME in recent decades:
UPDATE
I have a couple of sources which give some more accurate news of the actual rainfall in Zhengzhou:
According to Reuters:
And from the Chinese news outlet Global Times:
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202107/1229294.shtml
Interestingly they give a figure of 154mm for Cologne, broadly in line with my original source quoting 7 inches. As we know that was a long way from being any sort of record for Germany.
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After last years fake videos of people collapsing in the streets & doors to apartment buildings being welded shut, why would we take anything coming from Chyyyna (*) at face value ?
(*) or the BBC for that matter
“tunnels”
as in UNDERGROUND tunnels ?
The new normal…..
Just found this:
“The worst flood in human history occurred in 1887, when the Yellow River overran the dikes in Henan Province. That flood covered 50,000 square miles. It inundated eleven large towns and hundreds of villages. Nine hundred thousand people died, and two million were left homeless.”
Broody crimate Chang e!!!
BBC=CCP
That daily rainfall total is incorrect. The rainfall total the BBC quotes is for a three day period …. I can’t follow the link but other news sources point this out, so the claim about more than 600mm fell in a day is false.
Yes. Reuters confirms the 617mm fall was the total for Saturday to Tuesday.
China.org.cn English language news site is reporting a Provincial Government spokesman as saying the floods in the province are (only) the worst since 1998. I wonder why the BBC and others would want to exaggerate (sarc)
Can’t find the link
Paul, Apologies the China.org.cn web-page I linked to may be out of date and may refer to a previous flood – I was following another link to get to it….. The link to the daily rainfall being actually a three day total is in a Reuters news report https://www.reuters.com/world/china/heavy-rainfall-kills-12-central-chinas-henan-provincial-capital-xinhua-2021-07-20/
I can also find a chinese english language news-site that has more detail about the rainfall
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202107/1229294.shtml
How can this happen when China has the “Beijing Weather Modification Office”
And it’s stated aim is …
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_Weather_Modification_Office
According to this report https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/03/china-vows-to-boost-weather-modification-capabilities (OK, it’s the Graudian so treat it with suspicion … )
Weather modification is quite the thing it seems.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9809529/Dubai-creates-RAIN-tackle-122F-heat-Drones-blast-clouds-electrical-charge.html
How do they measure such extreme rainfall reliably?
My experience of extreme rainfall comes from working in tropical West Africa, the precipitation seemed to arrive from every direction, and the noise of constant rain falling on tin roofs was amazing and it went on for days.
The idea that you could compare rainfall reports one day to another was not really helpful.
Yes. The common rainfall gauge ( some newer ones are automated, 2 ‘tipping buckets’ for 0.2mm, but seem to breakdown in heavier rain) is this-
The standard instrument for the measurement of rainfall is the 203mm (8 inch) rain gauge. This is essentially a circular funnel with a diameter of 203mm which collects the rain into a graduated and calibrated cylinder. The measuring cylinder can record up to 25mm of precipitation. Any excess precipitation is captured in the outer metal cylinder…BOM Australia
An extract from an article on Climate Home News:
How foolish of the Chinese to ignore Greenpeace and focus on practicalities. https://www.climatechangenews.com/2021/07/21/record-breaking-rain-fills-chinese-subway-drowning-dozens/
Instead of running around in a circle waving their hands in the air screaming climate change, and doing interviews for the climate propaganda cabal, Chinese concentrate on getting the fossil fueled rescue boats/helicopters and relief supply deliveries going. What peculiar people they are – no sense of priorities!
My reply has gone into moderation – I’d love to know why, no links and I can’t see anything remotely ‘rude’?
Try again Mr Grim
It wasn’t very interesting, just a sarcastic observation.
Were they less ignorant and/or more honest, BBC reporters would know that, amongst much else, the history of China from time immemorial has been one relentless battle with its climate. Over the cenuries uncounted millions lost their lives as rivers changed their courses or appalling droughts wiped out entire harvests.
Brilliant post and fully agree. Thank you. China has maintained a climate record for thousands of years called the Fang Zhi
https://tambonthongchai.com/2018/05/22/climate-science-versus-the-fangzhi-2005/
Hi Paul, what is your blue line on the graph showing? It seems to be ~ 60 mm. The headline number is supposed to be 624 mm in a day. But then LeedsChris says 617 mm over a 3 to 4 day period. That is getting close to historic highs.