Drone footage of China's shrinking 'kidney' lake amid prolonged drought and heatwave

Record ID: 1686549

  • Title: Drone footage of China's shrinking 'kidney' lake amid prolonged drought and heatwave
  • Date: 29th August 2022
  • Summary: NANCHANG, JIANGXI PROVINCE, CHINA (AUGUST 28, 2022) (REUTERS) (MUTE) VARIOUS DRONE SHOTS OF TRIBUTARY STREAM RUNNING THROUGH THE DRIED-UP FLATS OF POYANG LAKE VARIOUS DRONE SHOTS OF CRACKS ON LAKEBED DRONE SHOT OF LOCAL VILLAGER WALKING ON DRIED UP RIVERBANK OF GAN RIVER DRONE SHOT OF DRIED UP RIVERBANK WITH CITY SKYLINE IN BACKGROUND VARIOUS DRONE SHOTS OF VILLAGER DRAGGING KAYAK WHILE WALKING ON DRIED UP RIVERBANK DRONE SHOT OF GAN RIVER, WHICH HAS PARTIALLY DRIED UP / CITY SKYLINE IN BACKGROUND DRONE SHOT OF BIRDS IN SMALL POOL OF WATER ON DRIED UP POYANG LAKE BIRD FLYING OVER SMALL POOLS OF WATER ON DRIED UP POYANG LAKE VARIOUS DRONE SHOTS OF BIRDS IN SMALL POOL OF WATER ON DRIED UP POYANG LAKE / CRACKS ON LAKEBED VARIOUS DRONE SHOTS OF CATTLE IN PARTIALY DRIED UP RIVER NANCHANG, JIANGXI PROVINCE, CHINA (RECENT - AUGUST 24, 2022) (REUTERS) (MUTE) DRONE SHOT OF BOAT AGROUND ON DRIED UP POYANG LAKE VARIOUS DRONE SHOTS OF TOURISTS WALKING ON LAKEBED OF PARTIALLY DRIED UP POYANG LAKE
  • Embargoed: 12th September 2022 05:21
  • Keywords: China Gan River Poyang Lake climate drone drought heatwave temperature weather
  • Location: NANCHANG, JIANGXI PROVINCE, CHINA
  • City: NANCHANG, JIANGXI PROVINCE, CHINA
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Droughts,Disaster/Accidents
  • Reuters ID: LVA001109828082022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Normally filled with water in August, China's Poyang Lake is now exposing large portions of its cracked lakebed, drone footage taken on Sunday (August 28) showed, testifying to the dramatic impact of a long drought and heatwave on a vital part of the country's irrigation infrastructure.
    China's biggest freshwater lake, Poyang is known as the "kidney" because of the role it plays in regulating the flow of the Yangtze river in central Jiangxi province, taking on floodwaters in the normally wet summer and then receding dramatically during the dry autumn and winter.
    This year, as a record heatwave throughout the Yangtze basin stretches beyond 70 days, the lake has shrunk far earlier than usual and is just a fifth of its size of a few months ago.
    Villagers and tourists were able to walk comfortably on the cracked and baked flats of the lake, treading through dead mussels and fish.
    The shrinkage has also affected shipping and drinking water supplies for nearby communities.
    Authorities have already released water from the Three Gorges and Danjiangkou reservoirs to alleviate downstream shortages, state broadcaster CCTV said last Tuesday (August 23).
    (Production: Thomas Peter, Xiaoyu Yin, Thomas Suen)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2022. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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