SHANGHAI, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Extreme heat in China played havoc with crops and power supplies on Wednesday despite lower temperatures in some regions, with authorities across the Yangtze river basin scrambling to limit the damage from climate change on crops and livestock.
The southwestern region of Chongqing has been hit especially hard by weeks of hot, dry weather. One resident, Zhang Ronghai, told Reuters that both his water and his power had been cut after a four-day mountain fire in the district of Jiangjin.
People need to go to a power centre over 10 kilometres (6 miles) away to charge their phones," Zhang said.
Chongqing's agriculture bureau drew up emergency measures to protect livestock at more than 5,000 large-scale pig farms, which have faced "severe challenges" as a result of the heat, state media said.
Damage to crops and water scarcity could "spread to other food-related sectors, resulting in a substantial price increase or a food crisis in the most severe case", said Lin Zhong, a professor at City University of Hong Kong who has studied the impact of climate change on agriculture in China
China's National Meteorological Center downgraded its national heat warning to "orange" on Wednesday after 12 consecutive days of "red alerts", but temperatures are still expected to exceed 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in Chongqing, Sichuan and other parts of the Yangtze basin.
China has warned it is especially vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters are expected to proliferate in coming years as a result of more volatile weather.
As the drought drags on, state media have been turning their attention to the impact of climate change in other countries.
"Climate change is once again a wake-up call for the world," said the official newspaper of China's corruption watchdog on Tuesday, adding that damaging heatwaves and droughts have hit Europe, Africa and North America in recent weeks.
China, the world's largest source of climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions, is committed to bringing CO2 to a peak before 2030 and to become "carbon neutral" by 2060, and it is also racing ahead in renewable energy development.
لكن الجفاف أدى إلى تآكل توليد الطاقة الكهرومائية وعادت الطاقة التي تعمل بالفحم إلى الارتفاع مرة أخرى ، حيث زادت المحطات في مقاطعة آنهوي الإنتاج بنسبة 12٪ مقارنة بالسنوات العادية.
تضاءلت آفاق التعاون الدولي لمعالجة المشكلة بعد زيارة رئيسة مجلس النواب الأمريكي نانسي بيلوسي إلى تايوان هذا الشهر.
ردا على ذلك ، ألغت الصين الغاضبة محادثات المناخ مع الولايات المتحدة ، منهية قناة مهمة ساعدت في دفع سياسات أكثر اخضرارا.
قالت الصين إن المناخ لا يمكن فصله عن القضايا الدبلوماسية الأوسع. وأبلغت وزارة الخارجية الولايات المتحدة الأسبوع الماضي أن عليها إنهاء مقاطعة منتجات الطاقة الشمسية من منطقة شينجيانغ وتوفير الأموال لمساعدة الدول النامية على التكيف.