Amid the heatwave warning in Shandong province, China, cracks have appeared on the bottom of a reservoir due to drought.
As the world grapples with a heatwave, warnings have been issued urging China to take action to prevent agricultural losses due to extreme weather conditions.
According to the South China Morning Post on the 26th, the Chinese state-run media Economic Daily pointed out the need to improve disaster prevention and mitigation capabilities to respond to the impact of extreme weather conditions on the country’s agricultural production.
The newspaper emphasized that weather disasters are the most critical factor in reducing food production. China has been experiencing severe droughts, floods, pests, and diseases, negatively impacting agriculture. Over the past decade, China has recorded an average annual grain loss of over 30 million tons due to weather anomalies. This year, heavy rain and floods have swept through several areas in southern China, with the northern regions having already experienced several record-breaking heatwaves.
According to the China National Meteorological Center, the highest-level rainstorm warnings were issued in five regions in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River on the 24th and 25th. Hubei, Jiangxi, Anhui, and other areas have also suffered from floods and landslides due to heavy rain, resulting in casualties. In Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, known as the hottest region in China, the temperature soared to 81 degrees Celsius on the 23rd, and it exceeded 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) on the 25th.
On the 17th, due to record-breaking heatwaves in Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong, and Henan provinces, a drought emergency response was activated. There are growing calls for the Chinese government to utilize advanced technologies, such as artificial rain, to build an effective disaster warning system and post-disaster reconstruction measures.
The G7 has called for concrete actions to ensure food security in the face of the heatwave. At the G7 summit held in Italy earlier this month, the leaders of each country called for action to address global food security and climate change. The deadly heatwave swept through Asia poses a significant threat to crop production and geopolitical tensions like the war in Ukraine, making food supply more difficult and exacerbating the recession.
Hanna Saarinen, Oxfam International Food Policy Lead, stated that global food prices are expected to remain high. She added, “Food inflation is causing serious damage to several low-income countries, including Laos and Indonesia, as well as Africa.”
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