China's Yangtze river extensively polluted - study - Reuters

Source: Reuters

China's Yangtze river extensively polluted - study
15 Apr 2007 11:20:06 GMT
Source: Reuters

BEIJING, April 15 (Reuters) - China's Three Gorges Dam reservoir has been
fouled by pesticides, fertilizers and sewage, and more than 600 kilometres
of the Yangtze river are critically polluted, Xinhua news agency said on
Sunday, citing a report.

The joint report by an institute at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the
international WWF organization and the Yangtze River Water Resources
Commission also said nearly 30 percent of the river's major tributaries,
including the Minjiang, Tuojiang, Xiangjiang and Huangpu rivers, were
seriously polluted.

"The impact of human activities on the Yangtze water ecology is largely
irreversible," Yang Guishan, a researcher of the Nanjing Institute of
Geography and Limnology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and
one of the chief editors of the report, told Xinhua.

-snip-

Cities along the Yangtze annually dump at least 14.2 billion tons of waste
into China's longest waterway -- which Xinhua said accounts for 35
percent of the country's fresh water resources.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/T309582.htm

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Source: Xinhua

Report: Yangtze water worsening
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-04-15 16:07

CHANGSHA, The first annual health report on the Yangtze River indicates
that the billions of tons of waste that continue to be dumped into China's
longest waterway are taking a serious toll its aquatic life.

The 2007 annual report on Yangtze River protection and development
shows that more than 600 kilometers of the river are in critical condition.
The report says almost 30 percent of its major tributaries, including the
Minjiang, Tuojiang, Xiangjiang and Huangpu rivers, are seriously polluted.

The report says the river's annual harvest of aquatic products dropped
from 427,000 tons in the 1950s to about 100,000 tons in the 1990s.

-snip-

Pollution, damming and too many boats have caused a dramatic decline in
Yangtze aquatic life. While rare species such as the white-flag dolphin are
thought to be on the verge of extinction, even common species such as
carp are gasping for survival, the report said.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-04/15/content_850842.htm

that country is in trouble. no wonder wally world stuff is so cheap..

Been there. Talked to the people. Seen the river. Breathed the smog...