China sows clouds to cool the longest heat wave in six decades

In several Chinese regions around the

, Asia's longest river, planes are firing cannons into the sky, using silver iodide rods to

and try to

to quell the worst

in living memory in the Asian giant. in more than 60 years.

Weather modification programs are spreading across the center and southwest of a country scorched by an unprecedented heat wave.

Blackouts in cities where millions of people live.

Factories that have to stop production to redirect the energy supply to homes.

Hydroelectric power reservoirs under minimum.

Orders not to lower air conditioning levels below 26ºC in government offices.

While

has already begun

due to the scarcity of hydrocarbons, in

they are doing the same,

, to withstand the summer heat wave.

The central province of Hubei, hit by drought since June, where more than 150,000 people have difficulty accessing drinking water and nearly 400,000 hectares of crops have been damaged by high temperatures, has been the latest to announce cloud seeding .

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China has been trying to alter the climate since the middle of the last century, although it began applying its experiments to major events since Beijing hosted the

, in that case to ensure a dry climate in the capital during the celebration of the big sporting event.

Using satellites, planes, mobile radar stations and artificial intelligence, weather authorities try to

so they can execute cloud seeding operations, using

that are fired into the sky to help form silver crystals. ice, which push the cloud to produce more rain.

On Wednesday, the Weather Administration issued the

for heat in 138 cities, while another 373 localities remained under the orange alert, the second highest.

This week, the heat wave, with temperatures reaching 44°C in some provinces, lasted more than two months in a row.

Since records began in 1961, such a long wave has never been reported, hitting mostly all communities surrounding the

, which is at record lows.

Sichuan

, in western China, with around 84 million, is the

and where energy demand has skyrocketed the most.

The Hong Kong newspaper

(

) explains that this province, the sixth largest economy in the country, depends on

to generate around 80% of its electricity, but water flows to hydroelectric reservoirs

this month.

Local media have reported that the Sichuan authorities have requested that air conditioning levels in public offices be kept at no lower than 26ºC and that workers have been asked to use stairs instead of elevators whenever possible. .

In

, the province's largest city, they have announced that "

have been made available to try to seed clouds" and induce rain.

Sichuan has been suffering from

in its factories for a couple of weeks.

Also in the cities.

For example, in Dazhou, home to more than five million people, blackouts last up to

.

Power outages are common in China to ration energy to endure the cold winter.

But the National Energy Administration warned in late July that the country's electricity load would continue to rise after repeatedly breaking the daily record last month.

The SCMP collects the latest data on energy consumption: it increased

compared to the previous year, while residential energy consumption grew by

the highest rate since the first records were available .

Available July 2009.

On Wednesday, Vice Premier

said that Beijing will offer assistance to

to maintain electricity supply.

"We need to ensure secure power supply for people and key sectors. The government will enhance policy support and take multiple measures to help coal plants alleviate real difficulties," Han said after Chinese authorities warned. that daily fuel consumption by the country's power plants rose 15% in the first two weeks of August compared to the same period a year earlier.

Other measures announced by the authorities focus on

from the provinces most affected by heat and drought, as well as increasing water discharges by 500 million cubic meters over the next 10 days at the Three Gorges Dam, the largest hydroelectric project in China.

THE YANGTZE DRIES UP

dropdown

The Yangtze River, which crosses eight Chinese provinces over 6,300 kilometers, supports around a third of the 1,400 million inhabitants of the Asian giant.

The severe heat wave in the river basin is lasting more than two months, reducing the supply of hydroelectric power and drying up large areas of arable land.

Water levels in the main body of the Yangtze are now at least 4.85 meters shallower than normal.

Rainfall in the river's drainage area fell by around 30% in July and is 60% lower than normal this August, with the river's tributaries "significantly lower" than historical levels, the Commission of Water Resources of the Yangtze River.

Nearly 820,000 hectares of arable land around the river have been damaged,

affecting 830,000 people and 160,000 head of cattle.

Authorities warn that the drought could last until September.

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