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Emergency measures for severe drought in China
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by JeffHuang | February 5, 2009 at 09:38 am
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Severe drought in China is threatening a fifth of their annual wheat harvest and leaving 3.7 million people across eight provinces with water shortage problems. 43% of the country's farmland has been damaged as the government is distributing a combined $58 million to combat the drought.
In some provinces, as much as a fifth of the wheat harvest could be destroyed, and nationwide as much as 5% of this year's wheat crop could be lost if conditions continue to worsen, the state-run China Daily reported.
The affected area is primarily in central and eastern China, covering the country's breadbasket where much of the winter wheat crop is raised. The area also includes the region surrounding Beijing, the capital, which hasn't had precipitation in more than 100 days. In all, some 1.85 million livestock are also short of water.
China often battles through drought difficulties due to global warming, urbanization, pollution and wasteful irrigation, but this has been the worst since 1951 and the affected areas is 100 times larger than the previous year.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (4)
at 10:51 on February 5th, 2009
Hopefully the rice isn't affected also...
at 11:54 on February 5th, 2009
This is awful - I am curious as to what some of the measures are that they want to use to combat the drought?
at 00:31 on February 6th, 2009
It really is a big structural problem. The Chinese government currently is constructing a huge $ 50 billion network of canals, dams, tunnels and bridges, that should divert precious water from the south to the needy north. It's called the Sout-to-North Water Diversion Project (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South-North_Water_Transfer_Project). This is a really long term project though (it was first thought of by Mao) and probably will not solve the sructural problem in the end. Furthermore the scarce water in China's rivers is very polluted, making the problem even worse.
at 06:16 on February 12th, 2009
To find a/some solution to the age-old problem:-
I) China can with the consent or otherwise by force obtained water from Lake Baikal, which contain 1 / 5 of the world fresh water and channel it to Mongolia (Inner & Outer), Xinjiang, and other provinces to irrigate the land
2) Use renewable power e.g. solar, wave, sea or even nuclear power through "reverse osmosis" as opposed to desalination of Bohai Sea or Pacific Ocean and channel them to the 5 or 6 provinces in China, Gobi desert and Kara Kum desert which regularly face water shortages.
3) Annex Siberia and take in control of Ob, Lena,Yenisey, Amur and even Volga and diverted the water to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Outer Mongolia, Western and middle China and if necessary sacrifice 200 million Chinese and other comrades (Russian do not dare sacrifice 200 million Russian since she does not have 200 million), to achieve that goal. If Russia talk too much, slam 300 ballistic or so missiles to Moscow, St Petersburg and Stalingrad and see how powerful Russian army, navy, or air force or even their S - 300 will be. Since 200 million may be effected by the drought, there is no difference to risk the 200 million giving them a hope.Life without hope or aim is useless.
4) If Putin talk too much, sent in a combination of secret force, have him taken unceremonially and have him castrated and so he wouldn't even good in his "judoka"
5) Then with double-faced together with America, proclaimed and declared ourselves that a "new world of order of peace and prosperity" whereby everyone is able to live anywhere, marry anywhere, work and live anywhere or even procreate everywhere like the Garden of Eden without any restriction and rules.
6) Otherwise God given resources - precious water - merely flow wastefully to the Artic or Pacific Ocean without any benefit to mankind.