Three decades of rapid economic development in China has left a troubling legacy—widespread soil pollution that has contaminated food crops and jeopardized public health.
Three decades of rapid economic development in China has left a troubling legacy—widespread soil pollution that has contaminated food crops and jeopardized public health.
The Yellow River Conservancy Commission, a government Body, surveyed the 'mother river' of China and found that for a third of its length the water was too polluted for use in agriculture. The housing ministry's chief engineer for water safety says only half of the water sources in urban areas are fit to drink. (1)
Yixing, in the heart of the Yangtze Delta is on the shore of Lake Tai., China's third largest lake. This lake boasts 800 square miles of fresh water and has been celebrated throughout Chinese history for its abundant fish and beautiful limestone landscape. However, Yixing and the land around it is in China's new industrial landscape. Since the 1990s, nearly 3,000 factories have been built on the once-beautiful shores of the lake. The chemical boom made Yixing one of China's richest country-level towns with a GDP that reached $17 billion in 2012. (2)
