China sends emergency aid to provinces struggling with extreme drought

In a meeting on Wednesday, the Ministry of Emergency Management stressed that local governments should ensure that there is water for crops and residential water is safe, increase drought monitoring and analysis, send emergency alerts and distribute water at the right time.

07:25

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China has launched a Level 4 emergency response, the lowest of a four-tier system that legally requires a team of experts to be dispatched within 24 hours and for the situation to be continuously monitored.

In recent weeks, extreme heat has continued in northern and central China, with rainfall falling by 50 percent in some regions, the ministry said. The China Weather Bureau predicts that the drought will develop further.

More than 290 million people across the country have been affected, Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday.

Weather records show that from 1981 to 1990, high temperatures first appeared on average on June 24, but in 2023 high temperatures reached May 28 – about 16 days earlier. Furthermore, the period of high temperatures is becoming 4.8 days longer every 10 years and more regions are affected.

Various ministries and local governments are acting to combat the drought. The Ministry of Water Resources said that from Wednesday evening, water deliveries from the Xiaolangdi Reservoir on the Yellow River in Henan will increase to support Shandong and Henan provinces.

Many cities urged residents to save as much water as possible. On Tuesday, a county in Gansu suggested that people avoid long showers and use the water for some purpose, such as recycling bath water to wash clothes or flush toilets.

The government of Queshan County in Henan issued a statement on Tuesday, urging the public to use as little water as possible and recycle water.

To alleviate the damage caused by extreme temperatures and drought to crops, China has called for an increase in artificial rain, changes in irrigation methods and continuous monitoring of farmland.

01:40

China turns to artificial rainfall to fight drought amid record heat wave

China turns to artificial rainfall to fight drought amid record heat wave

But artificial rain requires suitable conditions, Henan Daily reported. The cloud must be thicker or higher than 2 km (1.2 miles) and must have adequate water vapor. The Henan Meteorological Service was ready to increase rainfall whenever the preconditions were met, he said.

An expert from the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research told state broadcaster CCTV that irrigation methods should be modified to minimize water loss, such as spraying water on fruit trees and covering vegetables with hay to lower the temperature. the earth.