The Third Largest River in the world is Drying Up
– As China suffers worst drought in more than 4 decades
– Country’s manufacturing sector struggles from power outages
Reports emanating from China have detailed the country’s struggle with one of the worst heat waves in recent history leading to its largest river, The Yangtze (Yellow River), drying up in most parts.
News reports from The South China Morning Post and The Financial Times detailed how bad it was as Buddhist-statues stuck underwater for as much as 600 years were exposed.
Low rainfall in the river basin led to the low water level of the Yangtze which reduced water flowing in from its upper reaches and hotter temperatures sped up evaporation. A climatologist and weather historian, Maximiliano Herrera told FT that the current situation in the world’s largest economy was unprecedented in world climatic history. “The 2013 heatwave was considered the most intense before 2022, but this one has doubled its duration, it’s much more intense and has encompassed a larger area,” he added.
In Sichuan, hydropower generates around 80% of electricity. This caused its power generation capacity to drop by 50% year-on-year in August according to SCMP. Chongqing Province had its Yangtze tributary, the Jialing River, shrink to less than half the width of its channel. More than 5.7 million people in the Hubei province were reportedly affected by drought since June according to local authorities quoted by the media.
An emeritus professor of atmospheric science at the University of Hong Kong stated that a possible reason for the extreme weather was that Jet Stream – a band of fast-moving air that controlled weather in mid-latitudes – had wobbled.
“With a less stable jet stream, you can get a blocking situation where there will be persistent warm air coming south to the north,” he said. “Tropical high pressure has extended over more of central China than in the past. It usually stays on the coast, but now it extends very far inland. Lakes are drying up in Central China.” The Sichuan, Chongqing and Hubei provinces export power to manufacturing hubs along China’s east coast.
An analyst at consultancy, Trivium China, Even Pay, said to FT: “The implication for business is pretty broad . . . In Sichuan, it has created a perfect storm of conditions. Any kind of manufacturing is having issues.” Manufacturers like Toyota and Foxconn have reportedly halted production just as power shortages resulted in supply chain problems for the Shanghai-based operations of Tesla amongst others.
