The China Meteorological Administration (CMA) has issued a warning that the prolonged heatwave expected in China’s eastern, central and southern regions in July could potentially damage the production of rice and cotton crops.
According to the CMA, summer temperatures in regions including Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Gansu and Ningxia are expected to be 1 to 2 degrees Celsius (1.8 to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above normal. The weather bureau stated that “it is necessary to guard against the risk of yield reduction of cotton, early rice and late rice caused by high temperature and heat damage.”
China is facing the challenge of hotter and longer heatwaves, as well as more frequent and unpredictable heavy rain, as a result of climate change, the CMA warned. Record-breaking temperatures last month have already impacted key grain producing provinces, forcing corn farmers to delay planting, while torrential rain in other regions has flooded soybean and rice fields.
Extreme weather is hurting developing crops globally, with farmland in China, Russia, India and the United States experiencing extremely hot conditions and below-normal rainfall, squeezing world supplies and pushing prices higher.
The CMA’s annual climate “Blue Book” also cautioned that maximum temperatures across China could rise by 1.7 to 2.8 degrees Celsius (3 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit) within the next 30 years, with eastern China and the northwestern region of Xinjiang set to suffer the most. Additionally, the weather bureau said two typhoons could make landfall in mainland China in July.
The warnings from China’s weather authority highlight the growing threat that climate change-induced extreme weather events pose to the country’s crucial agricultural production, underscoring the need for proactive measures to mitigate the impact on food security.