China in Deep Heat

High heat in China is destroying the nation. China has been in a constant heat wave that has lasted over 70 days without a single day of relief. This heat wave is one of the worst China has seen. CNN Online reported: “[t]he ongoing heat wave is the worst China has seen since records began more than 60 years ago. It has stretched over 70 days, sweeping through large swathes of the country and smashing temperature records at hundreds of weather stations.” Due to this heat wave China has suffered significant economic losses. China's hydropower plants have also suffered due to extreme heat; the load power plants are getting due to the nation's use of air conditioners and the results of widespread droughts as a result of the high temperatures is making them less useful everyday. The New York Times reported: “[d]ry weather in southwestern China has crippled huge hydroelectric dams, forcing cities to impose rolling blackouts and driving up the country’s use of coal.” Unfortunately, due to conditions, China needs to use coal again to sustain its power.

These high temperatures have also greatly affected the country's agriculture, as China has lost a lot of acres of crops. Professor of Lin Zhong shared this: “[d]amage to crops and water scarcity could spread to other food-related sectors, resulting in a substantial price increase or a food crisis in the most severe case." This is a serious problem for the people of China as it means food could potentially become inaccessible to the poor or lower income families. This could lead to extreme measures. But not only crops are suffering, China’s livestock is also being heavily impacted, as stated by the Chinese state media: “more than 5,000 large-scale pig farms…have faced ‘severe challenges’ as a result of the heat.” This issue with China's food sources could also potentially affect not only China, as China is a major provider for the world. So this, paired with China's economic losses, could affect other countries and their economics.

This high heat in China is still consistently breaking records, as these temperatures have either never been seen or haven’t been seen in decades. These temperatures are extremely high for China. The New Scientist website states: “[o]n 18 August, the temperature in Chongqing in Sichuan province reached 45°C (113°F), the highest ever recorded in China outside the desert-dominated region of Xinjiang.” The country isn’t handling this well at all either, according to a statement from the MultiMedia website: “[e]xperts say the heatwave could be among the worst recorded in global history” millions of people are being affected from this and it isn’t just because of it being hot out. These people are having to walk for miles to just charge their phones due to their power being down, as well as water becoming inaccessible. This is the state that people in China are living in for over two months at this point.