The average temperature in Guangdong could rise by 5.7 C from 2011 to 2100 unless it turns to greener methods to sustain its economic growth, experts have warned.

The temperature will rise by 1 C between 2011 and 2040, by 1.9 C between 2041 and 2070, and by 2.8 C between 2071 and 2100, Lin Xianmin, deputy director of the provincial meteorological administration, said at a forum on Tuesday.

The warming will be faster than in the past five decades, when the average temperature climbed 1.05 C, he said. The average temperature in Guangdong last year was 22.5 C.

Guangdong's rise as one of the world's largest manufacturing bases should be blamed for the rise in temperature, Lin said, because it has resulted in "high energy consumption and greenhouse gas emission".

Accounting for one-eighth of China's GDP and one-third of the country's exports, Guangdong has experienced an average of more than 70 hazy days a year for the past three years. The number is almost three times that of the early 1980s.

The province's main manufacturing cites such as Dongguan, Foshan, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Zhaoqing experienced more than 100 hazy days last year. Dongguan led with 213.

Jiang Kejun, director of energy system research office under the National Development and Reform Commission, called for a low-carbon economy to undo the damage.

Guangdong should not count on natural resources and go in for labor-intensified manufacturing industries, he said. Renewable and clean energy, such as wind and nuclear energy, should power its economy in future and green awareness among the public should be enhanced.

(China Daily October 30, 2008)