Drought, Floods, Crop Damage, Grain Losses…

BEIJING (Reuters) – China is suffering its worst drought in a decade, millions of people are short of drinking water, reservoirs and rivers have shrunk. The surface area of the country’s largest fresh water lake, Poyang, in the southern province of Jiangxi, has fallen to a record 50 sq km (19 sq miles) from several thousand sq km at its peak.

Children play in a dried-up pool in southwest China’s Sichuan Province. Source: Embassy of the PR China in the U.S.

About 400,000 hectares (1,545 sq miles) of crops have been damaged by drought this year, resulting in total grain losses of 37.4 million metric tones. The meteorologists have blamed the crisis on increased extreme weather conditions. About 50 million Chinese face drinking water shortages. Full report…

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