The most severe drought in 40 years hit northeast China this
spring and the situation is worsening, the national climate center
said Tuesday.
In Tongliao, in the Inner
Mongolia Autonomous Region, is one of the leading animal
husbandry bases in China. More than 70 large and small reservoirs
in the area have dried up. Four-fifths of the grassland is so dry
that farmers were forced to leave 400,000 hectares of farmland
idle.
Zhang Qiang, a senior official with the national climate center,
said that lack of rainfall and high temperatures are responsible
for the drought. Since March 1, most northern provinces have
recorded only 20 to 50 millimeters of rainfall, some 50 to 90
percent less than the average in recent years.
China's Central Meteorological Station forecasts no more than 10
millimeters of rainfall in Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang, Jilin
and Liaoning provinces in the next ten days, while temperatures are
expected to remain unusually high.
Weather forecasts indicate that some southern provinces, such as
Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang and Jiangxi, may also be struck by
drought.
(Xinhua News Agency June 16, 2004)