China has launched rockets carrying chemicals into the sky in a bid to induce rainfall amid drought and a heatwave which has hit the country for over two months.
The BBC reported that provinces around the drought-stricken Yangtze River have turned to cloud seeding operations to combat the lack of rain, with Hubei and a number of other provinces launching rockets carrying chemicals into the sky.
However, in some areas, efforts to do the same have stalled to a lack of cloud cover.
Meanwhile, temperatures across Sichuan and neighboring provinces have exceeded 40C while hydropower reservoirs are currently down by as much as half.
This has put pressure on power companies and government offices in Sichuan were asked to keep air conditioning levels at no lower than 26C, while employees were asked to use staircases rather than elevators.
Millions of residents have also been hit with blackouts in the province with power outages in some cities lasting up to three hours.
The BBC further reported that factories in the province have been forced to cut production or halt work as part of emergency measures to redirect power supplies to households.
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