Why is China getting battered with heavy rains and floods ?

 For the past three days we have been hearing extreme climate events that were happening around the world, floods in Germany and Belgium, extreme heat wave in Western Canada, heavy rains in Mumbai and now heavy rains and floods in central parts of China.

Floods in China ..

Why have these events suddenly started happening in China and other parts of the world. Climatologists, environmentalists and scientists are mentioning these are the negative impacts of climate change, the extreme events that happen. The floods that happened in Kerala for the past three years during August - September have not been erased from people's minds. 

When the impact was localised in Kerala or to some parts of Asia, the world neglected these events and tended to discard them as one off events. But now the scenario has changed. The extreme events are being felt across the world, developed and developing nations alike. 

In China for the past three days, the impact has been severe.  China received the rains it receives in a year in just three days. The Zhengzhou area in the Henan province has been the worst hit. Almost 25 people have lost their lives. This is an indication to the whole world that extreme events due to climate change is for real and can batter the planet earth into the future unless we change our basic view of the environment and the planet around us.

Floods in Germany

Another reason for the sudden surge in waters with the cities, subways getting inundated and submerged have been the breach of the many water storage dams in central China. China which had about 23,000 large dams in 2019 increased the number to 98,000 in 2020, as per a report by the news agency WION. There are 11 dams in the Mekong river downstream of which lie the countries of Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. China dries up the rivers flowing through it's territory by damming the rivers and puts the countries downstream at great risk of water shortage for irrigation and power generation in those countries. World media feels this is part of the muscle flexing exercises of China to bully it's neighbours. 

The floods that China have seen is of their own making, it has only itself to blame for the terribly awful situation it finds itself in now. But disaster, loss of life, damage to property is heart wrenching anywhere in the world it happens. Lets hope we earthlings are able to collaborate, work with each other to help sustain the environment, build an amicable and just society and ensure our children and grandchildren are left to inherit a neater, greener, safer and just world in future.

The important question to the whole world is when will China get back to its feet ? World manufacturing is dependent to a large extent on Chinese manufacturing companies. As HBR Professor Willy Shih notes in his Oct '20 HBR article (click here), Global Supply Chains in a post pandemic world, when the world was getting back to its feet courtesy China, the next big disaster has happened. How long more the world will have to wait for a rebound ?

George. (picture and info courtesy BBC, NYTimes, WION..)