China’s largest freshwater lake, Poyang, which is usually a vast spillover collection point for the Yangtze River, has suffered a massive reduction in size because of the prolonged heatwave the river basin has endured over the past two and a half months. Today it is down to a fifth of its normal size, according to a report by the ABC.
The heatwave, which has hammered areas such as Sichuan in the country’s southwest, where more than 60 rivers have dried up, as well as provinces further east along the Yangtze basin, is the longest and most severe since records were started in 1961, officials say.
See the full report: ABC.
NOTE: This was amended on August 30, 2022 to trim additional details.
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