China is facing its most extensive drought in nearly 60 years. This drought has dried up rivers and affected power generation at hydroelectric power plants. As per the data from the national meteorological department, after 64 years, China faced its longest summer and, as a result, the Yangtze, the longest river in Asia, which is also the largest river in China, has dried up. The drying up of the Yangtze has caused water shortages in the dam and affected hydroelectric power plants, leaving large cities or small towns facing a power crisis.
The National Meteorological Center issued a nationwide drought warning for the 33rd day in a row due to the lack of precipitation in the capital cities of the southern provinces of Jiangxi and Hunan this month. According to the national and provincial meteorological authorities, Jiangxi has been experiencing a "severe" drought for 69 days this year until last week, when 95.7% of its county-level areas were classified as being under an "extremely severe" drought.
In view of this, the Chinese government limited the supply of electricity to thousands of factories in Sichuan. Following this, companies such as Toyota, Foxconn, and Tesla have temporarily suspended operations at some of their plants set up in China.
Drought has affected at least 2.46 million people and 2.2 million hectares of agricultural land in China's Sichuan, Hebei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, and Chongqing prefectures. At the same time, according to China's Ministry of Emergency Management, more than 780,000 people need direct government assistance due to the drought.
Jiangxi's drought, which began in late June, has left 17,000 people without access to clean drinking water, damaged 612,500 hectares (1.5 million acres) of farmland, with 67,200 hectares losing all of their harvests, and resulted in a direct economic loss of 5.89 billion yuan (US$840 million), according to the provincial disaster reduction authorities. China experienced a direct economic loss of 2.73 billion yuan in July alone as a result of this drought, which arrived after such a long period of drought. This had an impact on 5.5 million people.
Yangtze River: Longest river in Asia dried up
The longest river in Asia and the third longest river in the world, the Yangtze river has dried up due to the ongoing drought situation in China. This river is also the longest river in the world flowing entirely within a country. It rises from Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains in the Tibetan Plateau and flows for 6,300 km in an easterly direction to flow into the East China Sea. The Wall Street General has released a report highlighting that China has received 40% less rain this year, which is the lowest since 1961.
The heat is rising continuously from above, and the temperature levels have reached 49 degrees Celsius in many cities in China. This year, central, eastern, and southern China experienced the hottest heatwave on record, lasting from mid-June to late August. As per the reports, about 1 billion people in China experienced temperature levels from 35 °C to 40 °C during this heatwave.
Due to the heat, the consumption of electricity also increased, but the production of electricity generated from hydropower has decreased due to low water levels. The heat has also affected agriculture. The demand for water for agriculture has increased. More water was taken from the rivers for irrigation. Apart from this, 66 other rivers have also completely dried up.
A report published by The Sun highlighted that the Yangtze basin, home to nearly one-third of China’s population, received up to 80% less rain than the 30-year average for that period, and temperatures were 2–4 °C higher than the average. Extreme drought caused the water levels in Poyang Lake, China's largest freshwater lake, to drop from 19 meters in June to 9 meters by the end of August.
What is the impact on the supply chain of food and drinking water?
A severe drought this year in China's Jiangxi province has shrunk the size of Lake Poyang by a quarter. At the same time, the Chongqing region has received 60 percent less rainfall this year. The temperature in the Bybee district, north of Chongqing, has crossed 45 degrees Celsius.
Chongqing is the most affected region by the scorching heat, with ten extremely hot spots in China. More instances of forest fires are being reported, 66 rivers in 34 provinces of southwest China have dried up due to rising temperatures. The situation in Sichuan and Hubei provinces is also very bad. People here are also facing a lot of difficulties with drinking water. Crops are destroyed, and people are not getting drinking water. 6-7 lakh hectares of crops have been destroyed in Hubei province alone, and one million hectares of crops were destroyed in Henan province as a result of the drought.
As per the reports, about 10 lakh hectares of crops in Sichuan have also been affected by the drought. More than eight lakh people are said to be affected by the drinking water supply. In an attempt to save crops, the Chinese government is spraying water with helicopters, and drinking water is being supplied to the people.
How much damage to the economy?
According to the figures released by China's emergency ministry, in July alone, China had to bear a loss of 2.73 billion yuan, or $ 400 million, due to the heat. It directly had a negative impact on 55 lakh people. China's GDP was projected to grow by 5.5 percent in the first quarter of 2022 but increased by only 2.5 percent due to drought and heatwave conditions.
China's meteorologists reported that the country faced the most heat on record last month, and they have predicted that the heat wave will continue to impact in the coming days too. During this period, record temperatures will increase in many regions of China. As per the forecast, the rainfall in the Yangtze River basin will receive low rainfall in mid-to-late September and October, with rivers continuing to receive less water.
Manvender is a passionate content creator with a journalism degree who has a knack for developing human-interest content. In the past, he was involved with a National News Channel and a video production company and has experience in writing, designing and video production.
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