Under the erroneous guidance of the Chinese Communist Party which believes “man can conquer nature”, severe droughts and floods are fast becoming the norm in China. From the north facing drought to the south experiencing floods, these extreme weather conditions not only pose risks to the people but also provoke reflections on the current situation.
In Henan Province’s Queshan County, it has been over two months since any rainfall. The once-green fields, which should have been flourishing with maize, now lay barren with cracked earth and swirling dust.
Local farmers have described to media the parched land where even the wells in the village have run dry, leaving them with no water for irrigation.
Some farmers, struggling to water their lands, now worry about the increased costs of irrigation. With the prices for maize and wheat dropping and farmland contracts already not profitable, they are facing losses due to the drought, making it a year of hard work in vain for many.
This drought has affected eight provinces in China and is being remembered by many locals as one of the most severe in recent memory. Some farmers in Henan even mentioned they have never witnessed such a prolonged drought in their 50 years of life.
According to a report by The Economist, China possesses only 6% of the world’s fresh water but must meet the drinking water needs of 20% of the global population. The unequal distribution of water resources further intensifies this challenge.
Increasingly, extreme weather events are putting China to the test. Over the past month, the country has been hit simultaneously by drought in the north and devastating floods in the south, leading to the loss of several lives.
In the southern regions, there has been continuous rainfall for up to 20 days, with netizens from Guangdong stating, “It has been raining non-stop for two months here.”
Starting from the end of June and into July, heavy rainfall has afflicted many areas in the south. Eight provinces have experienced torrential rains, with meteorological departments issuing red alerts for heavy rainfall in multiple regions.
Facing extreme weather conditions of drought in the north and floods in the south, questions arise about how insignificant humans are in the face of nature.
Scientists predict that China will experience more rainfall and longer periods of drought. Apart from floods, the southern regions have faced drought conditions each year over the past three years.
Based on data from the World Weather Attribution organization, the likelihood of heatwaves occurring in China has increased by 50 times nationwide.
With 40% of China’s population residing in the north, most provinces fall below the UN-defined “water scarcity” threshold.
Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences estimate that the damages caused solely by drought have resulted in an annual loss of $7 billion for the Chinese economy between 1984 and 2015.
Ironically, a report by the non-profit organization “China Water Risk” in April 2024 revealed that 41% of China’s data centers are situated in drought-prone areas, which consume significant amounts of water for cooling purposes. This situation is mirrored in many water-intensive coal-fired power plants across China.
Meanwhile, another trend arising from climate change is attacking western China. The glaciers in the Himalayas are melting, serving as a primary water source for rivers in China and other Asian countries. 20% of these glaciers have melted since the 1950s.
Currently, the melting glaciers have led to increased humidity in some parts of China. However, by the mid-21st century, the meltwater is expected to decrease. One affected region is the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang, where 12 million residents, relying on glaciers for 40% of their water, are at risk.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung once commented on China’s water issues, stating, “China’s water problems have evolved into a conflict between development and nature. Though the government (outwardly) strengthens legislation and enforcement for nature and water resource protection, Beijing leadership still seems to believe that human intervention can overcome nature.”
In the past, the Chinese government initiated large-scale water projects like the South-to-North Water Diversion, which not only failed to meet its objectives but also exacerbated the damage to nature.
“The reasons for water scarcity are not only related to climate; the increase in water consumption is one of the contributing factors. Industries are digging wells deeper, causing groundwater levels to continuously drop. Floods along riverbanks are a consequence of population growth and industrialization. In recent decades, many flood retention areas have been turned into residential areas, and wetlands have been drained. With many forests in river valleys being cleared, rainwater rapidly flows into rivers, turning them into monstrous torrents,” as reported by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.