From The Guardian
Some economic booms grind to a halt, others run out of steam, but in China the biggest risk is that growth will dry up. Water, the country’s scarcest resource, is running out. Pollution, waste and over-exploitation have combined with the expansion of mega-cities to foul up wells and suck rivers dry.
Signs of a crisis are apparent everywhere. In the arid north, four-fifths of the wetlands along the region’s biggest river system have dried up. In the west, desert sands are encroaching on many cities. In the south, the worst drought in 50 years has ruined crops and prompted water shortages even along the banks of the Yangtze, the nation’s biggest waterway.
Domestic newspapers are increasingly filled with grim statistics and reports of the latest pollution spill. In June, the State Environment Protection Agency(ÂõΩÂÆ∂ÁéØ¢ɉøùÊä§ÊĪ±Äestimated that 90% of urban water supplies were contaminated with organic or industrial waste. According to the Water Resources Ministry, 400 of the country’s 600 cities are short of water. [Full Text]
Read related article of “China’s Imminent Water Crisis” from Tina Bulter.
Another article of “China Warned of Water Crisis by 2030” from Xinhua
