National drought warning issued in China.

National drought warning issued in China.

National drought warning issued in China.

China has issued its first national drought warning of the year in addition to fighting wildfires and taking measures to protect crops from severe blazes across the Yangtze River basin. A national 'yellow alert' was issued on Thursday night after weeks of intense heat from southwest Sichuan province to Shanghai in the Yangtze River basin. The country's government officials have repeatedly blamed global climate change for this adverse weather situation.

According to Beijing's scale, this level of caution is level three. Poyang Lake, a key Yangtze river flood basin in central China's Yangtze province, has shrunk to a quarter of its normal size for this time of year due to drought, the country's state-run Xinhua news agency said.

According to state-run CCTV, as many as 66 rivers flowing through 34 counties in southwestern Chongqing have dried up. This year, Chongqing has received 60 percent less rainfall than normal, and several districts have seen a severe reduction in soil moistureAccording to the China Meteorological Bureau, the temperature in Beibei District, north of Chongqing's city center, reached 45 degrees Celsius on Thursday.

Six of the nation's 10 hottest regions were in Chongqing the next morning.The temperature in the region's Bishan district has already reached close to 39 degrees Celsius.The temperature in Shanghai has risen to 37 degrees Celsius. Firefighters are on high alert as fires break out in mountainous areas and forests in the Chongqing region. State media reported an increase in the number of heatstrokes in the region. Reuters.