In previous blog posts, I have discussed the recent heat wave and drought in Europe. But there is another area of extreme heat and drought as well in China. According to Reuters, China has issued its first national drought alert of the year as authorities battle forest fires and mobilize specialist teams to protect crops from scorching temperatures across the Yangtze river basin. The story says that 66 rivers in the southwestern region of Chongqing have dried up, and rainfall is less than 60% of normal. According to the Global Times, this is the strongest heat wave in six decades.
NBC News reported that China is planning to try to do cloud seeding to produce more rain and is also spraying crops with chemicals that reduce water losses by evaporation. The coming 10 days is a “key period of damage resistance” for southern China’s rice crop, according to their story. Water shortages in reservoirs have also shut down factories due to the lack of hydropower.
