Drought warning in China, sowing of clouds to save the Blue River

Against the worst heat wave of the last 60 years, China is sowing clouds to save its most important river, the Yangtze (or Blue River), which has already dried up in some parts due to drought. CNN writes, according to which Chinese planes are practicing ‘cloud seeding’ (also translated as ‘cloud seeding’), a technique to modify the climate that aims to increase rainfall in arid areas. The last province to sow clouds through the use of silver iodide bars was Hubei, in central China. In this province, according to reports from the local Department for Emergency Management, at least 4.2 million people have been hit by a severe drought since June: more than 150 thousand people have difficulty in accessing drinking water and almost 400 thousand hectares of crops were damaged due to high temperatures. Faced with the dramatic situation, the Ministry of Water Resources admitted that drought across the Yangtze River basin, Asia’s longest, has “adversely affected the security of the country. drinking water for rural populations and livestock and crop growth. “The heat also forced authorities in southwestern Sichuan province – home to some 84 million people and a major manufacturing center – to order the closure of all factories for six days to cope with energy shortages due to high consumption. What China is facing is the biggest heatwave It is the longest and strongest ever recorded since 1961. Authorities today issued the maximum alert for 138 cities across the country and 373 others were awarded the ‘orange badge’.