Editorial | Extreme conditions a grim China challenge
- Saving lives and ensuring food security are vital as deadly rainstorms hit the south and drought cripples northern agricultural region
Few things illustrate the vastness of China and the perils of climate change quite as starkly as the weather in the days leading into summer. In the south, incessant rainstorms have fed a deadly flooding season that has only just begun.
At the same time, in northern and central China, extreme drought is threatening soybean and corn production across parts of six provinces. Authorities are right to brace for the worst.
Weather-related disasters have been the scourge of China for centuries, but in recent years rising temperatures globally have added to the extreme nature and intensity of unfavourable conditions.
President Xi Jinping has ordered regional and local leaders facing floods or drought to step up their disaster preparation, coordination, monitoring and relief efforts to protect people and their property. “The situation is becoming increasingly severe,” Xi said, recognising that China has entered the flooding season.
In Guilin in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, the city has seen its worst floods for 26 years, with heavy rains and a rising Lijiang River trapping villagers in their homes, flooding shops and suspending rail services.
