China battles drought to save crops in severe heat wave

China issued its first national drought alert this year as authorities battle forest fires and mobilize specialized teams to protect crops from scorching temperatures across the Yangtze River basin.
The national “yellow alert”, issued late on Thursday, comes after parts of Sichuan in the southwest to Shanghai in the Yangtze Delta experienced weeks of sweltering heat, which government officials blame on climate change. The yellow alert is two degrees below the most serious warning on the Chinese scale.
The Poyang Lake in one of the important flood basins of the Yangtze River in central China’s Jiangxi Province has now shrunk to a quarter of its normal size for this time of year, Xinhua news agency said on Thursday.
China Central Television reported on Friday that as many as 66 rivers across 34 counties in southwestern Chongqing Province have dried up.
Citing local government data, the TV reported that rainfall in Chongqing this year has decreased by 60 percent compared to the seasonal average, and the soil in many areas suffers from a severe lack of moisture.
Beibei District, north of Chongqing, experienced temperatures of 45 degrees Celsius on Thursday, according to the China Meteorological Bureau.
Chongqing City ranked sixth among the 10 hottest locations in China on Friday morning, with the temperature in Beishan region approaching 39 degrees Celsius. And the temperature in Shanghai recorded 37 degrees.
Infrastructure and emergency services in Chongqing have come under increasing pressure, with firefighters on high alert as fires rage in mountains and forests across the region. State media also reported an increase in heat stroke cases.
The Chongqing Agriculture Bureau has also set up expert teams to protect endangered crops and expand planting areas to make up for losses before the autumn harvest.
According to data released by China’s Ministry of Emergencies late Thursday, rising temperatures in July alone caused direct economic losses of $400 million.

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