UV Index 🇨🇳China

China is the world's third-largest country by area, stretching roughly from 18°N on the tropical island of Hainan to about 53°N at Mohe in Heilongjiang, and spanning more than 60 degrees of longitude from the Pamirs to the Pacific. The Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas dominate the west at average elevations above 4,000 metres, while the densely populated east descends through the Loess Plateau and North China Plain to broad coastal lowlands along the Yellow, East China and South China seas.

The Tibetan Plateau hosts some of the highest ambient UV levels ever measured on Earth: peer-reviewed campaigns at Lhasa (3,650 m) and on the north slope of Mount Everest have recorded clear-sky summer UV Index values between 14 and 18, driven by thin atmosphere, low aerosol load and high surface albedo from snow and ice. By contrast, megacities across the eastern lowlands experience strong UV attenuation from persistent haze and PM2.5 pollution, while tropical Hainan sees high UV year-round; the China Meteorological Administration issues daily UV index forecasts for major cities.

China sits at #141 of 191 in the WHO's global ambient-UV ranking with about 2,908 J/m² of average daily UV, around the 26th percentile worldwide.