Drought worsening: 100 rainless days in Beijing

Guangzhou Daily
February 5, 2009

Lack of rainfall and snow since last November has caused severe drought in vast areas of northern China. Today the news made it to the front pages of several newspapers, following President Hu Jintao and other leaders' comments on the issue yesterday. The photo on the cover of today's Guangzhou Daily shows a dried-up riverbed in Zhengzhou, Henan Province.

So far the drought has affected 146 million mu of farming land (roughly equivalent to 24 million acres), leaving 3.98 million people and 1.85 million livestock short of drinking water. The official estimate is that this year's wheat crop is going to suffer a 2.5 % loss due to the drought.

Xinhua also reported today Beijing itself has had a particularly dry spell:

It has not rained in Beijing since October 26, a period of 100 days, making this the longest drought on record since 1971. The meteorological department says the dry weather will continue through early February but in the second half of the month the capital may see 4 or 5 millimeters of snow.

Update: Today's newspapers have updated the number of the population and livestock short of drinking water to 4.29 million and 2.07 million respectively. [February 6, 2009]