(Washington Insider Magazine)-BEIJING, China (Transatlantic Today) – At a point when President Xi Jinping is working to solidify his hold on power, factories in China’s southwest have closed as a result of hydropower reservoirs running low due to an intensifying drought.
According to news reports published on Wednesday, businesses in Sichuan province that produce solar panels, urea, and cement reduced or stopped production after being told to ration electricity for up to 5 days. That happened as reservoir levels dropped and the demand for electricity for air conditioning rose amid sweltering heat.
A Tuesday directive from the province administration stated, “Leave power for the people.”
As Xi, the nation’s most influential leader in years, sets to try to break with precedent and grant himself a third 5-year term as president at a summit in October or November, the shutdowns present new hurdles for the controlling Communist Party.
As a record-breaking heatwave harms livestock and crops, the nation is acting urgently to provide more water to the Yangtze River basin, which is suffering from a drought. Additionally, relief funds are being used, clouds are being seeded, and new supply sources are being developed, according to NBC NEWS.
According to information from the National Climate Center, the heatwave in China has now prolonged 64 days, making it the worst since complete records have been kept in 1961, according to official media on Wednesday.
Hubei province in central China announced its major weather manipulation experiment on Wednesday. Planes are being used to launch silver iodide rods into the sky to cause rain.
After the summer rains, areas in northern and central China authorized emergency steps to guarantee that drinking water supplies were at least half of normal levels. Fire Trucks reportedly transported water to 2 parched villages close to Chongqing in the southwest, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
According to the authorities, the lack of water and excessive temperatures have caused hundreds and thousands of acres of agricultural crops in northern and central China to perish. The summer agricultural season was reportedly unsuccessful in several regions.
In certain places, the temperature might get to 104 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the weather service.
According to the Sichuan Provincial Department of Economics and Information Technology, water levels at hydroelectric reservoirs in the 94 million-person province of Sichuan have decreased by as much as half this month.
According to Xinhua, the government has earmarked 280 million yuan ($41 million) for drought assistance in the provinces of Shanxi and Hebei, Liaoning in the northeast, and the Inner Mongolia region in the north.
