The big environmental stories in the Chinese media this week (3-9 July)
The heavy rains and flooding that a few weeks ago were wreaking havoc in southwest China’s Guangxi province have now spread across 27 provinces and city administrative regions in southern China. Areas of Sichuan have seen 28 days of consecutive storm warnings, while Hubei, Chongqing, Anhui and Zhejiang have all recorded the most summer rainfall since 1961.
According to the Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM), as of Wednesday nearly 25 million people had been affected by the floods and 132 are dead or missing. The direct economic losses caused by the floods so far stand at 49 billion yuan (US$7 billion). The first half of 2020 has seen a 41.5% jump in the numbers of people affected by natural disasters compared to 2019, in large part due to storms and flooding, according to the MEM. The floods have also seen ancient bridges destroyed and school graduation “gaokao” exams disrupted in parts of Anhui province.
Due to local and upstream rains, river water levels across southern China have been rising dramatically. Levels in Poyang Lake, Jiangxi province, are at their highest since 1998 and one local hydrological monitoring station reported record flood waters. In neighbouring Zhejiang province, authorities ordered the release of water from the iconic Xin’an River dam, opening all nine release portals for the first time since its commissioning in 1961. The release was live streamed across media channels.
The media attention prompted some to remember the destruction and physical and psychological dislocation its construction caused, including the submersion of two ancient cities, over 1,400 towns and villages, and the relocation of nearly 290,000 people.
“As you sit at home watching the floodwaters released via live stream, what we need most is not to forget this history”, said WeChat account OneHangzhou. The article went viral with over 100,000 reads (the maximum number WeChat displays publicly) and attracted hundreds of comments, some of which offered emotional and personal accounts of the dam’s impact on their families.
Read China Dialogue’s earlier article on the impact of climate change on China’s infrastructure.
According to the Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM), as of Wednesday nearly 25 million people had been affected by the floods and 132 are dead or missing. The direct economic losses caused by the floods so far stand at 49 billion yuan (US$7 billion). The first half of 2020 has seen a 41.5% jump in the numbers of people affected by natural disasters compared to 2019, in large part due to storms and flooding, according to the MEM. The floods have also seen ancient bridges destroyed and school graduation “gaokao” exams disrupted in parts of Anhui province.
Due to local and upstream rains, river water levels across southern China have been rising dramatically. Levels in Poyang Lake, Jiangxi province, are at their highest since 1998 and one local hydrological monitoring station reported record flood waters. In neighbouring Zhejiang province, authorities ordered the release of water from the iconic Xin’an River dam, opening all nine release portals for the first time since its commissioning in 1961. The release was live streamed across media channels.
The media attention prompted some to remember the destruction and physical and psychological dislocation its construction caused, including the submersion of two ancient cities, over 1,400 towns and villages, and the relocation of nearly 290,000 people.
“As you sit at home watching the floodwaters released via live stream, what we need most is not to forget this history”, said WeChat account OneHangzhou. The article went viral with over 100,000 reads (the maximum number WeChat displays publicly) and attracted hundreds of comments, some of which offered emotional and personal accounts of the dam’s impact on their families.
Read China Dialogue’s earlier article on the impact of climate change on China’s infrastructure.
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