The mercury soared to 31.4 C in Guangzhou on Wednesday, one of Guangdong's hottest days on record for early April.

The province's highest temperature on Wednesday was 35.4 C in the western county of Xuwen.

Guangdong can expect more droughts, heat waves, floods, typhoons, storms and other natural disasters this summer, Wen Zhiping, director of Sun Yatsen University's atmosphere science department, said.

He told government departments to prepare for future natural disasters, to reduce casualties and minimize economic losses.

Temperatures have been rising in Guangzhou since the early 1970s.

The annual average was 23.2C last year and that has been increasing by about 0.4 C every decade, Wen, who is also deputy director of Guangdong's provincial meteorology association, said.

Guangzhou taxi driver Wang Wenxiong was feeling the heat on Wednesday.

He said he had to switch on the air conditioner for the first time this year.

"My clothes would have been soaked with sweat otherwise," Wang said yesterday.

Temperatures in Guangdong will continue to rise over the next 20 to 100 years, Wen said.

Between 2011 and 2040, the average annual growth will be about 1C, he said.

Du Yaodong, a PhD researcher at Guangdong's climate center, said the activities of a dense and growing population in the Chinese industrial hub are contributing to the warmer weather.

More than 42 million people who are registered in Guangdong come from outside the province.

"The carbon dioxide emissions must be astronomical for this city, given that the average person is responsible for 4 tons (of emissions) a year," Du said.

Vehicle emissions, heat generated by daily activities and the increasing number of skyscrapers in the city are also affecting weather patterns, Du said.

(China Daily April 10, 2008)