January Temps In Beijing Highest In 167 Years - Magnolias Blossoming - AFP

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Skating has been banned on the melting ice of Beijing's lakes, trees are blossoming early and people are shedding their heavy clothes as China experiences its warmest winter on record. The temperature in the capital hit 16 degrees Celsius (60 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday, far above the historical average of just below freezing for this time of year and the highest since records were first compiled in 1840.

The head of the Beijing Municipal Observatory, Guo Hu, said the record high was part of a consistent trend this winter, while state-run media reported similar phenomena across the country. "In January and February, Beijing experienced its highest temperatures in 167 years," Guo told AFP on Tuesday. "Beijing has basically seen warmer winters from the late 1980s. This is due to the influence of global warming."

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January-December average temperatures were the highest in 56 years in both the eastern province of Jiangsu and the remote western region of Xinjiang, 3,000 kilometres (1,800 miles) apart, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The mercury in the normally frigid far northeastern province of Heilongjiang had also hit 40-year highs and 300,000 people were suffering from a drought in Shaanxi province after January rainfall was 90 percent below average, it said.

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China built 117 government-approved coal-fired power plants in 2005 -- a rate of roughly one every three days, according to official figures.

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http://www.terradaily.com/2006/070206100326.dn69qtuh.html