File:Frozen water bodies in the Hebei and Shandong provinces - China.jpg

English: In the last days of December 2020, China has experienced a cold wave that has swept across the country from north to south. According to the Chinese National Meteorological Centre, the temperature in most parts of central and east China dropped by 10 degrees Celsius, while in the western of China it dropped by 12 to 16 degrees Celsius. On 28 December an orange cold wave warning, the highest in a three-tier ranking, was declared. This image, acquired by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites on 30 December 2020, shows frozen coastal waters in the Hebei and Shandong provinces frozen due to the combined effect of cold temperature and strong winds. The Copernicus programme provides a unified system through which vast amounts of open data are fed into a range of thematic information services designed to benefit the environment and citizens needs, and support effective policy-making for a more sustainable future. These services fall into six main categories: land management, marine environment, atmosphere monitoring, emergency response, security and climate change.