SIGNATURE WORK
CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION 2024

In recent years, China has experienced many severe heat wave events in summer. A severe heat wave hit southern China from June 13 to August 31, 2022, affecting more than 23 provinces and breaking the record for the highest daily average temperature since 1961. This highlighted the health risks of climate change, with complaints aplenty on social media. While the physical effects of heat waves are well known, the effects of heat waves on mental health have been rarely studied. Sina Weibo, which had 582 million users in the first quarter of 2022, provides insights into public sentiment during such events and helps shape environmental policy. This paper will collect data on Weibo posts related to heat waves in the summer of 2016-2023, and through SnowNLP, sentiment analysis and LDA analysis, it will be confirmed that high temperatures have produced great negative emotions for the masses, both physically and mentally, and from the mass relevant response measures have been proposed at the three levels of the government, the company, and the government to minimize the negative impact of extreme weather on society.

Keywords: heatwave, hot weather, social media, sentimental analysis, climate change.