Chinese officials are trying to unleash rain on parts of central and southwest China amid a severe drought and a record heatwave.
The Yangtze, Asia’s longest waterway, is now at a record low. In some cases, less than half of the usual precipitation fell.
Hydroelectric power plants are currently being halved, officials say.
At the same time, increasing demand for air conditioning has put energy companies under tremendous pressure. The twomonth heatwave is the longest on record in China, according to the National Climate Center.
Provinces around the droughtstricken Yangtze River have resorted to cloud seeding operations to combat the lack of rain, with Hubei and several other provinces firing “missiles” that launch chemicals into the sky, according to local media.
But the lack of cloud cover has stalled efforts in some areas attempting the same operation.
People swim at the intersection of the Han and Yangtze Rivers during the heatwave in Wuhan, Hubei province, March 8.
Image: Getty Images
Meanwhile, temperatures in Sichuan and neighboring provinces have exceeded 40°C.
Related to this, government agencies in Sichuan have been urged to keep air conditioning at at least 26 degrees Celsius, according to the Sichuan Daily quoted by Portal news agency. Workers were also advised to use stairs instead of elevators whenever possible.
Millions of residents in the province are also affected by power outages. In the city of Dazhou, home to around 5.4 million people, power outages last up to three hours, local media reported.
Factories in the province have reportedly been forced to slow production or halt work as part of emergency measures to divert power to homes.
This text was published at https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional62589828