China’s greatest river in crisis
January 18th, 2008 by Jim JustThe Guardian reports that the Yangtze, Asia’s longest river, is shriveled and polluted as a result of drought and overexploitation.
The Yangtze supplies water to hundreds of millions of people and thousands of factories in a delta that accounts for more than 40% of China’s economic output. Precipitation and water levels are at or near record lows in its middle and upper stretches, and ships are being trapped in unnavigable shallow waters. Lack of water results in more concentrated pollution from the 9,000 chemical plants along the river, threatening all those who depend on and use the river.
Climate change is worsening the situation. Before 1996, water was short for three months of the year, but now there are only three months when water can be used as normal.