Severe Drought Scorching South Korea, Causing Wildfires and Affecting Food Production

Desperate public officials have resorted to rain rituals to combat climate change.

Severe Drought Scorching South Korea, Causing Wildfires and Affecting Food Production

Photo: Yeongwol-gun County officials bow to the mountain spirit, praying for rain. Credit: the Blue Roof.

Due to climate change, South Korea has been experiencing an unusually warm late spring with little rain, in a season that is critical for growing vegetables and fruit. (See previous coverage, “Climate Change Comes to Korea’s Seafood.”)

The average rainfall in May for Chungcheongnam-do Province 충청남도 was less than 6% of an ordinary year; other areas of the country are seeing around half of the usual rainfall. Desperate for relief, Yeongwol-gun County of Gangwon-do Province 강원도 영월군 held a traditional rain ritual 기우제, bowing to the mountain spirit to grant precipitation.

Meanwhile, a wildfire raged from May 31 to June 3 near Miryang, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province 경상북도 밀양, burning 763 hectares, or the equivalent of approximately a thousand soccer fields. This is the first time a wildfire has broken out in June since the South Korean government began recording instances of wildfire in 1986; ordinarily, the fire season in Korea is late winter to early spring, when the air is dry.


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