Meteorologic departments are looking at seeding the clouds if rain
does not alleviate the current droughts sweeping China.
Some areas are experiencing severe problems as the summer heatwave continues
to sizzle the country.
By the end of July, 3.3 million hectares of farmland were suffering from
severe dry weather, said the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief
Headquarters.
Around 4.9 million rural people and 3.7 million heads of livestock are facing
shortages of drinking water, the office said.
The headquarters attributed the drought to sustained high temperatures hit
many areas since July.
Fujian Province in East China has suffered the hardest-hit drought in recent
years with more than 200 reservoirs drying up.
Nearly 190,000 hectares of farmland have been affected by the drought and
670,000 local people have barely enough to drink.
Hangzhou, the capital of East China's Zhejiang Province, has now had 36 days
with temperatures above 35 C, something that has not been seen for 10 years,
according to statistics from the local meteorological observatory.
Chongqing Municipality in Southwest China is also among the hardest-hit
areas. The number of areas are increasing.
More than 500,000 hectares of farmland and 1 million people there are facing
water shortages.
The local government has injected around 26 million yuan (US$3 million) to
try and alleviate the problem.
As the drought situation in Jiangxi, Fujian, Zhejiang and Sichuan develops,
local departments are being urged to take action now to help local people.
Weather forecasters predict that most Chinese cities will experience higher
temperatures than last year, especially in the south of Xinjiang, the region to
the south of the Yangtze River and the area to the east of the Yangtze and
Huaihe rivers.
