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Pearl River Estuary Largely Destroyed
Beijing (AFP) May 18, 2007 The estuary of southern China's Pearl river has been ravaged by worsening pollution, causing sea waters off Hong Kong to deteriorate steadily in recent years, state press said Friday. "In the Pearl river estuary, the ecology system has been destroyed and cannot be rectified in the short term," the China Daily said, citing a recent report by the Guangdong provincial oceanic and fishery administration. About 8.3 billion tonnes of sewage from 82 sources were discharged into the ocean off the coast of Guangdong last year, up 60 percent from five years ago, the report said. Pollutants such as inorganic nitrogen, phosphate and petroleum were boosting the number of harmful "red tides," or algae blooms, that suck the oxygen out of the water and leave coastal zones of dead fish and other species, it said. "It's an inevitable result of economic growth," the paper quoted a researcher surnamed Zhang at the Guangdong Ocean University as saying. "Local governments have always pursued economic growth at the expense of the environment, no matter if it is land or sea." Pollutants harming fisheries as well as water used for drinking and irrigation included lead, copper, cadmium, mercury and arsenic, it said. Waters around 13 coastal cities along the Pearl river estuary were categorised as "seriously polluted," it added. Guangdong province, which borders the former British colony of Hong Kong, has been traditionally known as China's "land of rice and fish." But following 25 years of booming economic growth, the province has become the factory floor of the nation's export-oriented economy, with thousands of plants filling the once fertile Pearl river delta.
Source: Agence France-Presse Related Links Guangdong Ocean University Water News - Science, Technology and Politics
Welcome Rain Falls On Parched Australia
Sydney (AFP) May 18, 2007Parts of parched Australia received their heaviest rainfall in years on Friday, but farmers warned much more is needed if the six-year drought is to be broken. Towns in eastern Australia have experienced at least 25 millimetres (one inch) of rain since a wet weather system arrived on Thursday. The National Farmers Federation said the rain was vital to winter crops but more was needed to break the drought which is crippling farm production and threatening water supplies in major cities. |
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