China’s boom is killing sea that gives it life, warn scientists

China’s spectacular economic boom will mean the death of its major economic and maritime hub, the Bohai sea, unless action is taken to stop industrial pollution of its waters, environmental advisers said yesterday.

The warnings, yet another example of the crisis gripping the world’s fastest-growing major economy, come as China tries to balance its desire for economic growth with the need to avoid environmental catastrophe.

The Bohai, which is among only 12 internal seas in the world, and the largest in the People’s Republic, has 26 cities in its hinterland, including three of China’s megacities, the capital Beijing, Tianjin and Shenyang.

Known as “the fish storehouse” because of the habitat it provides for many rare migratory species, the Bohai is also one of China’s most high-profile environmental blackspots, along with the Yangtze delta and the Pearl river delta.

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There are even signs that the negative impact of pollution on human health is leading to outbursts of social unrest from those citizens who suffer the most from the downsides of China’s economic boom.

The Independent