More On China's Troubled Waters
by Rachel Wasser, Beijing, China on 05.14.07
We don't want to beat a dying river, here, but how is it that China's natural waters end up looking like Gatorade? Taken on March 22nd, this photo of industrial waste from a textile dyeing factory draining into the Yangtze is a partial answer. The textile dye, paper, fertilizer, chemical, and metal processing industries are major sources of point pollution in China's rivers. And all that industrial crap is joined by the real deal. The Yellow River, China's longest after the Yangtze, brings water to more than 155 million Chinese. It was recently reported that in the past year, some 120 million tons of household sewage - the vast majority of it untreated - have been released into the river by just one city along its waters. Ma Jun, champion of Chinese waterways and one of our favorite eco-heroes, said that wastewater now accounts for a tenth of the Yellow River's total volume. No wonder a third of the Yellow River's fish species are now extinct. Though it's hard to see beyond these troubled waters - they're far from clear, after all - government is aware of and attempting to address problems. And growing citizen awareness and activism, at least in theory, are being encouraged like never before. Photo courtesy of Reuters.
See also ::Chinese Water: A Picture is Worth..., ::::Isn't It Ironic? China Calls For Citizen Activism, Detains Environmentalist, ::Restocking the Polluted Yangtze: Fishy?, ::China Wakes Up Thirsty and Worried, ::Dark Cloud Over China's Water
This phenomenon slowly spreads out to countries that have previously not suffered because of westernization and offshoring of production. The west is ever talking about a green revolution (http://yedda.com/questions/7351231540156/) but regrettably the East remains behind.
if we gain anything from the "westernization" of china its that we can clearly see the damage that gets done. I can only hope that as other countries "advance" the western model does not get fallowed
Greed over Need
China must find a way to clean its polluted rivers if the Westernization process and the desire for increased growth rate have resulted in spoiling of its water resources. The government has sufficient wealth from the sales of products to other nations. It can act if it so wishes to do so but the mentality is to consider environmental cures as secondary to enconomict advancement.
However, the law of diminishing returns must at some place be reached. There is a point at which the damage done to the country from polluting activities exceeds the resulting economic benefit. That point already appears to have been reached. A nation without clean water to drink and clean air to breath is, at best, a dying nation.
China must think more of the needs of its people and not of storing and hording its great wealth. It is really a matter of greed over need.
adrianakau@aol.com
Wigs and False Teeth for All
I am afraid that this type of "Gatorade" has more in it than meets the eye. Heavy metal poisoning is evident among children with hair falling out and teeth going bad in the Baiyin section of the river. Erin Brockovich would have a holiday here if lawsuits were permitted but, unfortunately, all the Hinkley's seem to be off limits.
Twenty million tons of industrial sewage are sent into the Yellow river every year in Baiyin part of Gansu province where metallurgy is an important industry but any laws enforcing compliance with government standards seem to be treated with indifference even though tests on heavy metals have proven heavy metal levels unsafe. Though the government acts out its part, it is apparent that the fines are too low to deter corrective action from polluting companies. It is cheaper for them to pay fines for the priviledge of continuing to contaminate the rivers and destroy the health of people forced to consume its water.
Human life in China looked at in this regard does not appear to be worth much. Just be glad that you are not one of the millions of people there who have to drink water that is so contaminated that you are sure to need a wig and a set of false teeth along with a brain transplant when you are older.
adrianakau@aol.com