China’s central government has given the order:

“Produce artificial rainfall.”

Chinese authorities were advised by their government to “produce artificial rainfall when necessary” because of “risk of wildfires” across China’s central and southern regions.

The announcement comes from Xinhua, the country’s official state press agency.

On August 18, China’s National Meteorological Center issued a “yellow” warning for drought “above a moderate level.”

“China has a four-tier, color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue,” Xinhua said.

The intensity of the heatwaves that are currently hitting China is the strongest since the country started keeping meteorological records in 1961.

Here’s more info from Xinhua:

The weather agency said in its daily bulletin that 4.5 million square kilometres of national territory had now experienced temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius [95 degrees Fahrenheit] or more over the past month — nearly half the country’s total area — with more than 200 weather stations recording record highs.

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