A video on TikTok shows a pond full of fish dried up after the owner returns home from being away for a month.
The rooftop pond has completely dried up, only leaving the carcasses of the 20 fish in the pond. Watch the TikTok video below:
@viceworldnews 20 fish carcasses lie on the ground after a rooftop pond dried up in southern China’s extreme heatwave. #fishtok #sunset #animalsoftiktok
Heatwave in China
The video above shows the situation that China is facing. China is currently facing one of the worse heatwaves in six decades, bringing drought that has a severe impact on China’s food and factory production. The heat wave is also affecting power supplies and transport across the country.
The heatwave reached temperatures upwards of 40 degrees Celsius for more than 70 days straight. The severity of the drought can be seen in the Yangtze River, China’s biggest river, reaching its lowest level ever since 1865.
The temperature in Chongqing in Sichuan province reaches 45 degrees Celsius, which is the highest temperature in China outside the desert region of Xinjiang.
The combination of low rainfall and extreme heat has disrupted China’s industry and farming. Massive areas of crops are dry due to rivers and reservoirs being at an all-time low.
The low-level rivers and reservoirs also cause hydroelectricity production to halt. Most of the people in China rely on electricity from hydropower. Thousands of homes and factories are currently facing electricity shortages due to the heatwave.
Poyang and Dongting, China’s two largest freshwater lakes, saw their lowest levels since records have been kept since 1951.
Some trains have to resort to dimming their light in order to save electricity. The tweet below shows passengers riding in a dark carriage.
Subway trains at some places where the historic power curb took place in Southwest China's Sichuan had to run without lights on as the region coping with the tight energy supply due to extreme weather. pic.twitter.com/Cm0ftamOhr
— FrontSource (@FrontSource) August 23, 2022
The heatwave in China is the lowest heatwave ever since the record began in 1961. The heatwave is not only affecting China, but Europe is also facing a heatwave crisis. Europe is facing the worst drought in over 500 years.
Source: Viceworldnews, BBC, SCMP
