BEIJING - Drought in China's northwestern province of Shaanxi has left at least 300,000 people short of drinking water and similar weather conditions have afflicted other parts of the country, Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday.
Below-average levels of rainfall and higher-than-usual temperatures in Shaanxi in recent weeks had also affected thousands of hectares of cropland and curbed water supplies for 60,000 animals, it said.
Drought had also affected areas of northeast, northwest and southwest China over the past month, it cited the weather bureau as saying.
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Temperatures in the Chinese capital Beijing had hit 16 Celsius (60.80F) on Monday, their highest levels in 167 years, according to Xinhua. They soared above 23 degrees Celsius (73.40F) in the financial hub Shanghai on Tuesday and reached similar peaks in some cities in eastern Anhui province, where temperatures were their highest for this time of year in half a century, it said.
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http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/40223/story.htm