Drought Threatens China’s Harvest When World Can Least Afford It
- Most of the nation’s grain crops are gathered in the autumn
- Power shortages in Sichuan to bolster coal consumption
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The extreme weather hitting China on all points of the compass comes at a pivotal time for the harvest in the world’s most populous nation.
China has largely escaped this year’s surge in global food prices due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But persistent, searing heat in central and southwestern areas, and flooding in the northeast -- all worsened by climate change -- now threaten a grain harvest that runs to hundreds of millions of tons, most of which is gathered in the fall.