Potatoes ‘boil’ in the ground as Asia is hit by brutal record heat

South Korean farmers watch crops collapse as temperatures soar across the region

A summer from hell for farmers

South Korea is being hammered by an extraordinary heatwave, with farmers reporting crops literally collapsing in the fields. In Yanggu county, potato grower Lee Sang-hyuk dug into soil where his crop had looked perfectly healthy just a week earlier, only to find potatoes that had become soft and rotten.

He compared them to “boiled potatoes”, with the extreme heat apparently turning the ground into an oven. And it isn't just one unfortunate field: farmers across the region are reporting serious losses as the heat continues.

42.5C turns the countryside into an oven

On August 2, the South Korean city of Yangsan reached 42.5C, the highest temperature recorded in the country since modern records began in 1904.

The consequences have been severe. South Korean authorities say at least 31 people have died during the heatwave, while more than 900,000 livestock and 1.4 million farmed fish have also been lost.

President Lee Jae Myung has described the weather as unlike anything previously experienced and warned that extreme conditions may be becoming the country's new normal.

For farmers, however, climate statistics mean little compared with watching an entire season's income disappear in a matter of days.

Watermelons turned to mush

The damage is spreading well beyond potatoes.

In Gwangju, watermelon farmer Hong Kyung-hee said fruit that had been perfectly healthy suddenly deteriorated. The inside remained sweet and apparently normal, but within three days the watermelons had turned to mush.

For a farmer with 50 years of experience, it was something he had never witnessed before.

Strawberry growers have also suffered losses, with some seedlings destroyed after months of cultivation. In some cases, farmers face another problem on top of the heat: insurance does not necessarily cover the losses.

That means crops destroyed by unprecedented weather can leave farmers carrying the financial consequences themselves.

Japan and Hong Kong are also breaking records

South Korea is far from alone.

Japan has endured temperatures of 40C or higher at several locations and this year introduced a new weather category known as kokushobi — literally a “cruelly hot day” — for temperatures exceeding 40C.

The heat has been so severe that three lions at a Tokyo zoo reportedly died from suspected heatstroke.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong recorded 36.9C, its highest temperature since records began in 1884, as hot air was drawn over the territory during Typhoon Dolphin.

That produced an awkward moment for Hong Kong's heat warning system, which remained at its lowest level despite the record temperature.

China hits 50C

The heatwave has also stretched across China, with a weather station in the western Xinjiang region recording 50C in July.

North Korea has experienced repeated tropical nights in Pyongyang, with temperatures refusing to fall below 25C.

Scientists say several atmospheric factors are contributing to the current pattern, including high pressure over the Tibetan Plateau and western Pacific, combined with this year's El Niño.

But researchers also point to the obvious background factor: a much warmer climate.

And then there are the potatoes...

The climate science may be complicated, but the image of potatoes apparently “boiling” underground is tailor-made for a slow news day.

It is also a useful reminder that extreme heat doesn't merely mean uncomfortable humans sitting beside air conditioners. For farmers, animals and crops, temperatures like these can mean an entire year's work disappearing almost overnight.

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This global warming thing seems to be something no one was told will happen. As people cry, "it's just something made up by scientists" nature just pushes on.

26 minutes ago, Social Media said:

warned that extreme conditions may be becoming the country's new normal.

More Covid like fear porn.