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Low rainfall and record-breaking heat across much of China are having widespread impacts on people, industry and farming. River and reservoir levels have fallen, factories have shut because of electricity shortages and huge areas of crops have been damaged. The situation could have worldwide repercussions, causing further disruption to supply chains and exacerbating the global food crisis.

People in large parts of China have been experiencing two months of extreme heat. Hundreds of places have reported temperatures of more than 40°C (104°F), and many records have been broken. where people can recover from the heat.

On 18 August, the temperature in Chongqing in Sichuan province (113°F), the highest ever recorded in China outside the desert-dominated region of Xinjiang. On 20 August, the temperature in the city (94.8°F), the highest minimum temperature ever recorded in China in August. The maximum temperature was 43.7°C (110.7°F).

It is the longest and hottest heatwave in China since national records began in 1961. According to weather historian Maximiliano Herrera, who monitors extreme temperatures around the world, it is the most severe heatwave recorded anywhere.

“This combines the most extreme intensity with the most extreme length with an incredibly huge area all at the same time,” he says. “There is nothing in world climatic history which is even minimally comparable to what is happening in China.”

Together with the extreme heat, low rainfall in parts of China has led to , with 66 drying up completely. In parts of the Yangtze, water levels are in 1865. In a few places, local water supplies have run out and drinking water has had to be trucked in. On 19 August, for the first time in nine years.

Hydroelectricity generation has fallen because of the low water levels. Sichuan has been especially affected because it normally gets 80 per cent of its electricity from hydropower. Thousands of factories in the province have had to cease operations because of electricity shortages amid high demand for air conditioning. Offices and shopping malls were also told to reduce lighting and air conditioning to save power.

In Sichuan alone, and another 433,000 hectares damaged. The agriculture ministry has said it will try to . It remains scientifically unclear whether cloud seeding makes a significant difference.

China is far from the only place affected by drought. Europe is having what may be its worst drought in 500 years. There is also a drought in the Horn of Africa, and and Mexico.

Lower crop yields in these regions could worsen the global food crisis. even before Russia invaded Ukraine, and though they have fallen since March, they remain higher than in previous years. However, in recent years, so it can make up for some shortfall.

According to a , droughts have been increasing as a result of global warming and will become more frequent and severe as the planet continues to warm.