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Yangtze shrinks as China's drought disrupts industry

Stevicus

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
Yangtze shrinks as China's drought disrupts industry (msn.com)

A world-wide drought, it seems.

CHONGQING, China (AP) — Ships crept down the middle of the Yangtze on Friday after China's driest summer in six decades left one of the mightiest rivers barely half its normal width and set off a scramble to contain the damage to a weak economy in a politically sensitive year.

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Factories in Sichuan province and the adjacent metropolis of Chongqing in the southwest were ordered to shut down after reservoirs that supply hydropower fell to half their normal levels and demand for air conditioning surged in scorching temperatures.

River ferries in Chongqing that usually are packed with sightseers were empty and tied to piers beside mudflats that stretched as much as 50 meters (50 yards) from the normal shoreline to the depleted river's edge. Smaller ships sailed down the middle of the Yangtze, one of China's biggest trade channels, but no large cargo ships could be seen.

Normally bustling streets were empty after temperatures hit 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) in Chongqing on Thursday. State media said that was the hottest in China outside the desert region of Xinjiang in the northwest since official records began in 1961.

“We cannot live through this summer without air conditioning," said Chen Haofeng, 22, who was taking pictures of the exposed riverbed. “Nothing can cool us down.”

The disruption adds to challenges for the ruling Communist Party, which is trying to shore up sagging economic growth before a meeting in October or November when President Xi Jinping is expected to try to award himself a third five-year term as leader.

The world’s second-largest economy grew by just 2.5% over a year earlier in the first half of 2022, less than half the official target of 5.5%.

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Wow, it looks like the water levels are getting pretty low.

Thousands of factories had to temporarily shut down.

The drought’s impact in Sichuan is unusually severe because the province gets 80% of its power from hydroelectric dams.

Thousands of factories that make processor chips, solar panels and auto components in Sichuan and Chongqing shut down this week for at least six days.

Some announced there was no disruption in supplies to customers, but the Shanghai city government said in a letter released Thursday that Tesla Ltd. and a major Chinese automaker were forced to suspend production.

The city government of Chengdu, the Sichuan provincial capital, told households to conserve power by setting air conditioning no lower than 27 C (80 F). Another city, Dazhou, earlier announced rolling three-hour daily power outages for neighborhoods.

The Yangtze basin, covering parts of 19 provinces, produces 45% of China’s economic output, according to the World Bank.

Low water levels in rivers also forced halts to cargo shipments.

They said it was the driest summer in six decades.
 

pearl

Well-Known Member
There has been a lot of news here in the States that Lake Mead is so low that bodies continued to be uncovered. I was considering with the location of Lake Mead, Los Vegas, finding bodies should not be of any surprise.
 

Debater Slayer

Vipassana
Staff member
Premium Member
My schadenfreude lobe is lighting up.

Should people from other countries also celebrate if or when climate crisis strikes the U.S.? I know I won't be, but if governments' actions were justification for such schadenfreude, the U.S. would be near the top of the list of countries deserving it.

China is home to almost two billion people. I'm not about to gloat over such a climate disaster affecting them just because their government is awful--especially when, unlike the U.S., they don't even get to vote for it.
 

England my lionheart

Rockerjahili Rebel
Premium Member

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
Should people from other countries also celebrate if or when climate crisis strikes the U.S.? I know I won't be, but if governments' actions were justification for such schadenfreude, the U.S. would be near the top of the list of countries deserving it.

China is home to almost two billion people. I'm not about to gloat over such a climate disaster affecting them just because their government is awful--especially when, unlike the U.S., they don't even get to vote for it.
Schadenfreude happens.
I never said that it was a good thing.
But any economic woe they suffer could
weaken their military, & benefit Taiwan.
That would be god.
 

Stevicus

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
Schadenfreude happens.
I never said that it was a good thing.
But any economic woe they suffer could
weaken their military, & benefit Taiwan.
That would be god.

But it could also make them more desperate. They may want our precious bodily fluids.
 

Stevicus

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
China plans cloud seeding to protect grain crop from drought | AP News

CHONGQING, China (AP) — China says it will try to protect its grain harvest from record-setting drought by using chemicals to generate rain, while factories in the southwest waited Sunday to see whether they would be shut down for another week due to shortages of water to generate hydropower.

The hottest, driest summer since the government began recording rainfall and temperature 61 years ago has wilted crops and left reservoirs at half their normal water level. Factories in Sichuan province were shut down last week to save power for homes as air conditioning demand surged, with temperatures as high as 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit).

The coming 10 days are a “key period of damage resistance” for southern China’s rice crop, said Agriculture Minister Tang Renjian, according to the newspaper Global Times.

Authorities will take emergency steps to “ensure the autumn grain harvest,” which is 75% of China’s annual total, Tang said Friday, according to the report.

Authorities will “try to increase rain” by seeding clouds with chemicals and spraying crops with a “water retaining agent” to limit evaporation, Tang’s ministry said on its website. It gave no details of where that would be done.

The disruption adds to challenges for the ruling Communist Party, which is trying to shore up sagging economic growth before a meeting in October or November when President Xi Jinping is expected to try to award himself a third five-year term as leader.

A smaller Chinese grain harvest would have a potential global impact. It would boost demand for imports, adding to upward pressure on inflation in the United States and Europe that is running at multi-decade highs.

Also Sunday, thousands of factories in Sichuan province that make solar panels, processor chips and other industrial goods waited for word on whether last week’s six-day shutdown would be extended.

A document that circulated on social media and said it was from the Sichuan Economic and Information Industry Department said the closure would be extended through Thursday, but there was no official confirmation.

Phone calls to the economic agency and provincial government weren’t answered. A woman who answered the phone at the Sichuan branch of the government-owned power utility State Grid Ltd. said she had seen no notice about extending the shutdown. She wouldn’t give her name.

The governments of Sichuan and neighboring Hubei province say thousands of hectares (acres) of crops are a total loss and millions have been damaged.

Hubei’s government declared a drought emergency Saturday and said it would release disaster aid. The Sichuan government said 819,000 people face a shortage of drinking water.

Sichuan has been hardest hit by drought because it gets 80% of its power from hydroelectric dams. The provincial government says reservoirs are at half of normal water levels. It earlier called on manufacturers to “leave power for the people.”

Offices and shopping malls in Sichuan were ordered to turn off lights and air-conditioning. The subway in Chengdu, the provincial capital, said it turned off thousands of lights in stations.

33 Pros & Cons Of Cloud Seeding & Weather Modification - E&C (environmental-conscience.com)

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