A crippling drought exacerbated by a record heat wave has spread across half of China and reached the normally frigid Tibetan Plateau, according to official data released ahead of more searing temperatures yesterday.
The world’s second-largest economy has experienced more than 70 days of heat waves, flash floods and droughts — phenomena that scientists say are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change.
Southern China has recorded its longest continuous period of high temperatures since records began more than 60 years ago, the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture said this week.
Photo: Reuters
Experts have said the intensity, scope and duration of the heat wave could make it one of the worst recorded in global history.
A chart from the National Climate Center on Wednesday showed that swathes of southern China — including the Tibetan Plateau — were experiencing “severe” to “extraordinary” drought conditions.
The worst-affected area — the Yangtze River basin, stretching from coastal Shanghai to Sichuan Province in China’s southwest — is home to more than 370 million people and contains several manufacturing hubs, including the megacity of Chongqing.
The China Meteorological Administration predicted continued high temperatures of up to 40oC in Chongqing and the provinces of Sichuan and Zhejiang yesterday.
However, some regions gained relief from the heat wave. Parts of southwestern Sichuan were battered by heavy rains overnight, causing the evacuation of almost 30,000 people, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
And in the southeast, Typhoon Ma-on made landfall in coastal Guangdong Province and Hong Kong yesterday morning.
“High temperatures have basically been alleviated in the regions of south China, Jiangxi and Anhui,” the meteorological agency said. “But high temperatures will continue for the next three days in regions including the Sichuan basin and provinces surrounding Shanghai.”
The Chinese State Council on Wednesday announced a 10 billion yuan (US$1.46 billion) subsidy to support rice farmers experiencing drought conditions, which authorities have warned pose a “severe threat” to this year’s autumn harvest.
China produces more than 95 percent of the rice, wheat and maize it consumes, but a reduced harvest could mean increased demand for imports in the world’s most-populous country — putting further pressure on global supplies already strained by the conflict in Ukraine.
Wednesday’s China Central Television evening news broadcast showed trucks supplying villagers who lacked drinking and agricultural water in rural Sichuan and Chongqing.
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the southern coast of Mindanao in the Philippines at 7:38am today, prompting the US Tsunami Warning System to issue an alert for neighboring countries, including Taiwan. The system issued a purple alert indicating a "tsunami threat." The potential threat zone includes Taiwan, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Yap and Palau. There were no immediate reports of major damage in the Philippines or Indonesia. The quake struck at a depth of 10km, said the German Research Centre for Geosciences, which had earlier pegged the earthquake at magnitude 8.2. Phivolcs, the Philippine agency, said the quake was magnitude 7 and
RESILIENCE: Taiwan plays a key role in semiconductors, energy, information infrastructure and advanced manufacturing, AIT Director Raymond Greene said Taiwan’s continued investment in deterrence and resilience remains vital, especially in uncrewed systems and other emerging technologies, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday. Greene made the remarks at the annual National Strategic Summit on Supply Chain Resilience held by the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET), a government-backed think tank. As Taiwan last year became the US’ fourth-largest trading partner and supply chain security is becoming more important, cooperation in emerging technologies continues to deepen between the two countries, he said. The US is committed to accelerating innovation, building key infrastructure, strengthening cooperation
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RIGHT DIRECTION: Taiwan’s efforts to prevent forced labor include a proposal to ‘fully prohibit’ employers from withholding workers’ documents, an official said Taiwan is to establish a mechanism to restrict imports of goods linked to forced labor, the Executive Yuan said yesterday, after the US proposed imposing additional tariffs on Taiwanese goods over labor concerns. “The Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Economic Affairs are to establish an interministerial review procedure,” Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “The government is to use the Foreign Trade Act [貿易法] as the legal basis to restrict imports of goods produced with forced labor” and bring its supply chain governance more in line with international standards on human rights, resilience
RSS