China: Local meteorologist explains cause behind sky turning red in Zhoushan

People in China's Zhoushan city were left stunned when the sky turned red for a brief period on Saturday, 7 May. The blood-red colour of the sky had panicked citizens and social media was flooded with pictures and videos of the red sky, The Global Times reported. The meteorological bureau of Zhoushan has explained the reason behind the phenomenon. 

According to the local meteorological bureau of Zhoushan, the phenomenon was caused by the refraction and scattering of lights and added that it was most likely from ship lights that were present in the port. One of the officials at the Zhoushan Meteorological Bureau stated that the sky was foggy and cloudy in Zhoushan on Saturday, 7 May, as per the news report. The official added that it was drizzling when the sky had turned red in Zhoushan. According to the official, the colour of the sky might have turned red due to the reflection of light from the clouds that were at low-level. 

People witness red sky in Zhoushan 

An official of the Meteorological Bureau explained that if the weather conditions are "good" and there is a presence of more water in the atmosphere, it leads to the formation of aerosols, as per The Global Times report. These aerosols then refract and scatter the light of fishing boats and result in the sky turning red. Meanwhile, an expert from the space physics research team of the China University of Geosciences in Wuhan noted that solar and geomagnetic activity was calm on Saturday, 7 May. According to the expert, there were no substantial anomalies in solar activity as per observation records. The observations made by the expert from the China University of Geosciences dismissed the possibility that geomagnetic and solar events were responsible for the sky turning red in Zhoushan. 

Netizens react to red sky in Zhoushan 

This uncommon event of a red sky that was witnessed in Zhoushan on Saturday, 7 May was captured in videos and images by residents. The topic even became a trending subject on China's Twitter-like social media, Sina Weibo. The red colour of the sky in Zhoushan even caught the attention of Twitter users. The phenomenon of the sky even sparked apocalyptic thoughts on Twitter.

One user wrote, "Blood Red Sky: Fear of Apocalypse Spreads in Chinese City Footage from the port city of Zhoushan near Shanghai shows the sky turned blood-red under thick layers of fog. Local residents panicked that the end of days had arrived, and called the red sky a bad omen for China." Another netizen wrote, "In China, the red colour of the sky suddenly filled fear among people. The sky was red as blood. This red sky was seen in the city of Zhoushan near Shanghai."

Image: Twitter/My_Thoughts_Too