Low rainfall and record-breaking heat across much of China have widespread impacts on people, industry, and farming. River and reservoir levels have fallen, factories have shut down because of electricity shortages, and huge areas of crops have been damaged.
The situation could have worldwide repercussions, causing further disruption to supply chains and exacerbating the global food crisis. People in large parts of China have been experiencing two months of extreme heat.
Hundreds of places have reported temperatures of more than 40°C (104°F), and many records have been broken.
On 18 August, the temperature in Chongqing in Sichuan province was 113°F, the highest ever recorded in China outside the desert-dominated region of Xinjiang.
It is the longest and hottest heatwave in China since national records began in 1961. According to weather historian Maximiliano Herrera, who monitors extreme temperatures around the world, it is the most severe heatwave recorded anywhere.
Hydroelectricity generation has fallen because of the low water levels. Sichuan has been especially affected because it normally gets 80 percent of its electricity from hydropower.
Thousands of factories in the province have had to cease operations because of electricity shortages amid high demand for air conditioning. Offices and shopping malls were also told to reduce lighting and air conditioning to save power.
“The rapid development of drought superimposed with high temperatures and heat damage has caused a severe threat to autumn crop production,” a statement said Tuesday.
Four government departments urged conserving “every unit of water” to protect crops.
China produces more than 95 percent of the rice, wheat and maize it consumes, but a reduced harvest could mean increased demand for imports in the world’s most populous country.
In Sichuan alone,47,000 hectares of crop are reported to have been lost, and another 433,000 hectares damaged.
Lower crop yields in these regions could worsen the global food crisis. China is far from the only place affected by drought.
Europe is having what may be its worst drought in 500 years. There is also a drought in the Horn of Africa and across much of the US and Mexico.
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