Northern China battles ongoing drought

Click for more news in World Wide Watch

China's Ministry of Agriculture says the country's third most severe drought in 2 decades is affecting more than nine million hectares of wheat in the major grain producing provinces. Authorities are warning that the situation remains grim, and are calling for long term solutions.

PeopleirrigatethewheatfieldatXiaoluVillageinYuzhou,
acityincentralChina'sHenanProvince,onFeb.4,2009.
Henan,China'smajorgrainproducer,issuedaredalertfor
droughtonJan.29.Theprovincialmeteorologicalbureau
saidthedroughtistheworstsince1951.Thedroughthas
affected63percentoftheprovince's5.26millionhectares
ofwheat.(Xinhua/NiuShupei)

Very little rain has fallen in much of northern China since November.

Rainfall in the region this winter is between 50 and 90 percent less than in the same period last winter.

In some areas, no precipitation at all has been recorded for the past 70 days.

Yang Guiming, Chief Forecaster of Central Meteorological Station, said, "Cold air flow has been strong this winter, while warm-humid airflow has been weak. That results in fewer rainy days and therefore drought."