China Experiences Worst Heat Wave Ever Recorded

Welcome to Sound of Hope News, I'm Golden Li. China has been hit by one of the worst heatwaves in recorded history. Temperatures around the Yangtze River region were over 104 degrees Fahrenheit for over 70 days. It is the longest and hottest heatwave since China began keeping records in 1961. The extreme heat combined with low rainfall have led to 66 rivers around China to dry up completely. In parts of the Yangtze, water levels are the lowest since records began in 1865. Weather historian and climatologist Maximiliano Herrera, who monitors extreme temperatures around the world, said it is the most severe heatwave ever recorded. The heat is causing droughts across the country, especially along the Yangtze River, which has resulted in wildfires, power outages, and crop failures. The southwestern region of Chongqing has been particularly affected, with one local, Jiang Ronghai, saying both his water and his power had been cut after a four-day mountain fire. He said people need to go to a power center over six miles away to charge their phones. The heatwave has also caused damage to crops, and combined with droughts, the problems could spread to other food-related sectors, resulting in a substantial price increase or a food crisis in the most severe case, said Ling Zong, a professor at the City University of Hong Kong who studies the impact of climate change on agriculture in China. Another side effect of the severe heat is power outages. The province of Sichuan relies heavily on hydropower, and drought has made the electricity generated by hydropower to be scarce. The lack of power has caused factories to shut down, disrupting international supply chains. China's women's volleyball team has caused a stir on Weibo after wearing N95 masks while playing at the Asia Cup on August 25. The Chinese volleyball team lost to Iran while wearing masks during a close game. After that, they took off the face masks and took the final three sets comfortably. Netizens on Chinese social media blasted their mask-wearing as crazy, a post with the hashtag Chinese women's volleyball team all wear masks to play attracted more than 40,000 likes in the first 10 minutes, as well as hundreds of comments. The China Volleyball Association apologized on its Weibo page for causing widespread concern in society. It said that the team asked all players to wear masks after learning that other players had displayed symptoms of COVID. Since there were no clear guidelines on whether athletes should wear a mask during the match, the team wore masks to protect themselves. The association also said due to our lack of experience on the field, we did not remind the players to take off their masks in time. It promised to better coordinate its efforts in the future.