北京降下60年来最晚的初雪

A light snowfall dusted Beijing and northern provinces Thursday, giving the capital its first precipitation since November and marking the latest date for the city's first snow in six decades. Authorities credited the snowfall to a government cloud-seeding effort, which was undertaken in response to fears that the drought will damage the year's winter wheat crop and drive up food prices.

However the snowfall was not considered sufficient to make much difference to the crop. The government said Wednesday it will spend $1 billion to boost grain production, divert water, build emergency wells and take other steps. Weather forecasters said much of Thursday's snowfall missed hard-hit Shandong province, a major wheat-producing region. Officials say if there is no precipitation this month, it will be the province's worst drought in 200 years.

中国的北京和北方各省星期四飘起了小雪。这是中国首都自11月以来第一次降雪，也是北京60年来冬季里最晚的第一场雪。当局将这场降雪归功于政府进行的人工降水的努力。这是对人们担心干旱会影响今年冬小麦的收成，抬高粮食价格所作出的回应。

但是，这场降雪并不足以对冬小麦起到很大的作用。中国政府星期三表示，中国将斥资10亿美元增加粮食生产、调水、营建应急井，并采取其它措施。天气预报说，星期四的大部分降雪没有覆盖旱情严重的主要小麦产区山东省。官员们说，如果这个月仍没有降水，山东将经历200年来最严重的干旱。