fernfeld
"The Yangtze, China′s longest waterway, is so polluted that all life it contains is at risk of extinction, this according to a report released by the Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology (NIGLAS) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in association with the World Wildlife Organisation and the Yangtze River Water Resources Commission. The river, which is also the world's third longest, represents 35 per cent of the country′s total fresh water resources. And the disaster is of such magnitude that much of the damage "is largely irreversible". Pollution, damming, heavy traffic, pes- ticides, fertilisers, sewage and freshwater use have caused a dramatic decline in Yangtze aquatic life. Rare species like the Baiji or white-flag dolphin, which had survived for 20 million years, are thought to be functio- nally extinct since none have been found in the most recent research expeditions. Even common species like the carp are gasping for survival, the report said. The river′s annual fish catch dropped from 500,000 tons in the 1950s to about 100,000 tons in the 1990s. Given the situation the absence of more recent official data is highly significant. And algae growth has become another major problem. "Fishermen along the river said even if they catch some fish from the polluted river, they dare not eat them," said Li Lifeng, freshwater programme director of the WWF China."
 
AsiaNews 04-16-2007
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