Severe drought affecting 40% of Inner Mongolia, China - Plague of rats take over 4 million hectares

Channel News Asia
Sat, 30 Jun 2018 09:25 UTC

© Reuters

File photo of a Mongolian township.

Persistent drought in the remote northwestern Chinese region of Inner Mongolia has caused a rat plague now affecting more than 4 million hectares of grassland, an area the size of the Netherlands, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Rodents are a common problem throughout Inner Mongolia's huge and sprawling prairies, and adapt relatively well to dry weather.

Citing the local agriculture department, Xinhua said late on Wednesday (Jun 27) that as much as 40 per cent of Inner Mongolia's territory had been affected by drought, causing more than 600 million yuan (US$90.92 million) in economic losses.

Since mid-June, Inner Mongolia has seen 25 per cent less rainfall and is around 1 degree Celsius warmer than the long-term average for the time of year, and nearly 35 million heads of livestock have already been affected, Xinhua said.

Comment: This follows extremely harsh winters in Inner Mongolia which have resulted in mass deaths of cattle. And we're seeing similar erratic patterns all over the planet so, while the overall trend is towards global cooling, there's also an increase in droughts, wildfires, heatwaves, and violent storms bringing increased wave heights, microbursts, deadly hail and epic flooding:

• More than 700,000 animals in Mongolia die from severe wintry weather (2018)
• 46,000 livestock animals killed by severe winter in Mongolia (2017)
• Mongolia: Harsh Winter Weather Wiping Out Livestock (2010)

Also check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Earth changes in an electric universe: Is climate change really man-made? as well as SOTTs' monthly documentary: SOTT Earth Changes Summary - May 2018: Extreme Weather, Planetary Upheaval, Meteor Fireballs