China's record heatwave causes pigs to suffocate and fish to 'burn to death'

China experienced its worst heat wave and drought in decades in the summer of 2022, causing widespread power shortages and disrupting food and industrial supply chains. This year, extreme heat has devastated parts of the country more severely than last year.

China heat record big death fish die run picture 1 — People harvest wheat in Henan , China. Photo: CNN

Pigs, rabbits and fish have died from the heat, while wheat fields in central China have been flooded by the heaviest rainfall in a decade. Meanwhile, officials fear drought could hit the Yangtze River basin, China's main rice-growing region, in the coming months.

Since March, temperatures in dozens of Chinese cities have hit record highs. Several cities in Yunnan and Sichuan provinces have endured record temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius.

As of Wednesday, 578 national weather stations located in various cities across the country had recorded their highest temperatures ever for this time of year, according to the China Meteorological Administration.

“Extreme weather such as droughts and floods could disrupt the order of food production and bring more uncertainties to food and oil supplies,” Sheng Xia, chief agriculture analyst at Citic Securities, wrote in a research report.

He warned of growing threats to food security this year due to the El Niño phenomenon, which could push the world 's average temperature to more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels for the first time.

“For China, the El Niño event will easily lead to increased climate instability in the Yangtze River basin, causing floods in the south and droughts in the north, and cold summers in the northeast,” said Sheng.

Last month, the World Meteorological Organization said the chances of an El Niño developing later this year were increasing.

Following a severe heatwave and drought last year, Beijing has increased its focus on food security. In March, Chinese President Xi Jinping said agriculture was the cornerstone of national security.

In recent days, reports of farm animals dying from extreme heat have been making the news.

At a farm in eastern Jiangsu province, hundreds of pigs died this week after a sudden power outage overnight. Jimu News quoted a farm worker as saying the pigs suffocated due to high temperatures and poor air circulation.

The heatwave is also believed to have killed large numbers of carp raised in rice paddies in the southwestern region of Guangxi. Villagers told South of China Today on Wednesday that their fish were “burned to death” when water temperatures rose due to the hot weather.

Severe weather conditions have also affected the country's largest wheat growing region.

Heavy rains flooded wheat fields in Henan, a central province that produces a quarter of China’s wheat, just days before harvest, causing some grains to sprout or go moldy.

Quoc Thien (according to CNN)

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