Beijing is again facing drought despite two months of rainfall,
and the situation is expected to get worse, Beijing Meteorological
Bureau said yesterday.
After a survey of the latest satellite photos, the bureau said
drought had returned to 44 per cent of the municipality, and the
meteorologists say south-eastern Fangshan District and part of
Daxing District are already experiencing serious drought.
"The parched capital had largely escaped the worst drought in 50
years that has hit some areas," meteorologist Tang Guang said.
"However, it returned immediately to drought conditions as
rainfall over the past month is down by 80 per cent from the same
period last year.
"Artificial rainfall facilities have been fully prepared and
once there is natural rainfall, artificial rainfall will also be
induced to generate extra water for the capital."
By mid-May, 70 percent of Beijing municipality was suffering
from moderate drought, bureau figures showed, and 6 percent were
hit by severe drought.
But frequent rainfall from June to August totalled 362.9
millimetres, about the same as for the corresponding period for the
last 10 years.
"The rainfall brought relief to 96 per cent of Beijing, leaving
3 per cent with light drought. The remaining even had too much
water and became waterlogged," Tang said.
Merely 50 to 90 millimetres of rain is forecast from September
to November, less than the previous year, the bureau said.
(China Daily September 14, 2006)