Since the beginning of its meteorological records in 1961, China had never known such a hot summer, a historic heat wave both in its duration and in its magnitude.
The main reservoir of drinking water in the country, the Yangtze River is dry in many places, displaying cracked soil, while for two months, many Chinese cities have been living to the rhythm of daily warnings of high heat, forcing the authorities to ration electricity.
These weather conditions represent a challenge for agriculture, in a country already in normal times with a shortage of arable land.
Drought is particularly problematic for rice and soybean crops, which are very water-intensive.
In this context, several ministries called on Tuesday to take measures to protect crops and to use every drop of water “sparsely”.
“The rapid spread of the drought, exacerbated by high temperatures and heat damage, poses a serious threat to autumn agricultural production”, underlines a notice published in particular by the Ministry of Agriculture.
– “Worst heat wave” –
In recent months, specialists have already been worried about the country’s harvests, due to health restrictions against Covid which are disrupting trade and logistics and delaying sowing in the spring.
Food security is a sensitive subject in China because the country has in its history been hit by episodes of famine.
China provides more than 95% of its rice, wheat and corn needs.
But poor harvests are likely to increase imports from the most populous country in the world, at a time when the supply of cereals is already undermined by the war in Ukraine.
The drought is likely to cause the loss of 20% of crops, estimates Faith Chan, associate professor of geographical sciences at the University of Nottingham Ningbo (China). “But that will depend on the evolution of the heat wave which could last another one or two weeks”, according to him.
Several large cities are recording the hottest days in their history, with up to 45°C recorded in the southwest of the country.
“This is the worst heat wave ever recorded” in China, assures AFP the climate and energy manager of Greenpeace for East Asia, Liu Junyan, based in Beijing.
And “the impact of climate change is intensifying (…), so it is likely that heat records will be broken again next year”, he adds.
– Artificial rain –
The municipality-province of Chongqing (Southwest), where 31 million people live, has been on the podium of the hottest cities in China for several days.
“I’m too hot to sleep at night and every morning I’m woken up by the heat,” sighed a 20-year-old student met by AFP, Xu Jinxin.
Neighboring Sichuan province broke a new heat record on Wednesday: 43.9°C.
In early August, the Chinese meteorological services acknowledged that the country has seen its temperatures rise twice as fast as the global average since 1951, a trend that is expected to continue in the future.
In lack of water for its crops, China is trying to artificially cause rain by launching projectiles loaded with silver iodide into the sky, according to images from public television CCTV.
The drying up of the rivers, which feed the hydraulic dams, also forces the authorities to locally ration electricity, at a time when the inhabitants are running the air conditioners at full speed to cool off.
The lack of water is crucial, particularly in the province of Sichuan (South-West), which has nearly 84 million inhabitants and is 80% dependent on dams for its electricity.
As a cost-saving measure, many factories and businesses have suspended their activity, while shopping centers in Chongqing can only open from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. The city also dimmed the lights in the subway and turned off its billboards.
These difficulties also pose a challenge to the economic heart of China, where the coastal regions of Jiangsu and Zhejiang as well as Anhui (East) are supplied by electricity from Sichuan.
