World’s largest indoor ski resort opens in Shanghai as China logs hottest month

TDT | Manama

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Shanghai opened the world’s largest indoor ski resort yesterday, welcoming visitors in snowsuits to its pistes as China reported its hottest August in 60 years.

This year’s northern summer saw the highest global temperatures ever recorded, and in the faux Alpine square where the resort’s opening ceremony took place, the mercury had already hit 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) by 9:00 am.

But the temperature plummeted to well below zero inside the cavernous atrium, where visitors switched from sunglasses and T-shirts into padded overalls, some opting for designer goggles or flapping batwinged helmets.

At the top of a piste, snowboarder Jessica Zhang was unfazed by the August heat record.

“When it comes to climate I feel like you get ups and downs in temperature -- maybe every few years a hottest year comes along,” she shrugged.

This year is likely to be the Earth’s hottest ever logged, beating the record set in 2023, according to the EU’s climate monitor.

China is the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, although in recent years it has also emerged as a global leader in renewable energy.