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Page added on November 19, 2016
Parts of China’s water supply are getting worse
China is making progress in battling the damaging smog that can shroud its big cities, but in many areas – from parts of the giant Yangtze river to the coalfields of Inner Mongolia – its water pollution is getting worse.
Despite commitments to crack down on polluters, the quality of water in rivers, lakes and reservoirs in several regions has deteriorated significantly, according to inspection teams reporting back to the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP).
In documents published this week, inspectors found that a fifth of the water in the Yangtze’s feeder rivers in one province was unusable, and thousands of tonnes of raw sewage were being deposited into one river in northeastern Ningxia each day.
Worried about unrest, China launched its war on pollution in 2014, vowing to reverse the damage done to its skies, rivers and soil by more than three decades of breakneck industrial growth.
“We still have a lot of work to do,” vice-minister Zhao Yingmin said at a press briefing on Friday.
“First, I’d say the point of inspections is to discover problems, and indeed we discovered in some places water quality has gotten significantly worse,” he said, noting, though, that the overall situation was improving.
Over the first nine months of this year, 70.3 percent of samples taken from 1,922 surface water sites around China could be used as drinking water, up 4 percentage points from a year ago, Zhao said.
Tight supply
China has long been worried about a water supply bottleneck that could jeopardize future economic development. Per capita supplies are less than a third of the global average.
A survey published by the MEP last year showed that nearly two thirds of underground water and a third of surface water was unsuitable for human contact, with much of it contaminated by fertilizer run-offs, heavy metals and untreated sewage.
China’s priority, though, has been air pollution, especially in industrialized regions like Beijing and Hebei, and it said this week that concentrations of harmful small particles, known as PM2.5, fell 12.5 percent in January-October.
“With air, you stop pollution at the source, and the blue skies come back instantly,” said Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, which monitors Chinese water pollution.
“For water, you can stop pollution at the source, but you still have the polluted sediment and the soil that is going to leech into the water, and it’s going to take much longer.”
‘Below grade 5’
China grades its water in five categories. Grade three and above is deemed safe for direct human contact, while grades four and five can only be used in industry and agriculture. Water “below grade five” has “lost all functionality”.
In an action plan published last year, the government vowed to improve water quality nationwide by 2030, and it aims to bring large volumes of unusable “below grade five” water back into the economy.
While improvements have been made in the past five years, China’s growing demand for water has put increasing pressure on its limited resources, and sources of pollution have not been put under adequate control, said vice-minister Zhao.
This week, the top coal producing province of Shanxi revealed that 29 of the 100 surface water sites tested between January and September were found to be “below grade five”, with water in the city of Datong deteriorating sharply over the period.
In the manufacturing powerhouse of Jiangsu near Shanghai on the eastern coast, inspectors found that the Yangtze, China’s longest river, wasn’t being protected. They said 20.5 percent of water samples taken from feeder rivers were “below grade five” last year, an increase of 11.4 percentage points in a year.
The number of surface water monitoring sites meting state standards in the coal producing region of Inner Mongolia fell by 7.7 percentage points, and the number categorized as “below grade five” rose by more than three percentage points.
In Ningxia in the northwest, another growing coal producer, water at two lakes had deteriorated from grade three to “below grade five”, and inspectors found that 6,400 tonnes of raw sewage was being deposited into one river each day.
Ammonia and phosphate concentrations in one reservoir in rural Guangxi in the southwest, doubled last year as a result of pollution from farming and fishing, the ministry said.
China said this year it would spend 430 billion yuan ($62.4 billion) on around 4,800 separate projects aimed at improving the quality of its water supplies, though it did not give a timeframe.
“You need infrastructure, and there is a deficit that we have to catch up … but the problem is how to find the motivation to clean up and behave properly, and stop pollution at the source,” said Ma at the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs.
35 Comments on "Parts of China’s water supply are getting worse"
Davy on Sat, 19th Nov 2016 10:31 am
The Asian miracle being reproduce across Asia in their mad dash to western affluence. Instead of acknowledging western affluence is a failure they are doubling down on it. There is no hope for the world as long as Asia seeks a western standard of living. It is by no means unfair for them to choose this path becuase westerners have not changed their path. We are all in this together and will perish together.
penury on Sat, 19th Nov 2016 11:29 am
A more correct title would be “Entire World’s Water Supply being Further Degraded”, A review of the U.S. drinking water would show just how many systems have been found with lead just i the past six months. Look at the reports of failing piping, low water levels and on and on. We are no longer “a shining city on the hill”
Sissyfuss on Sat, 19th Nov 2016 11:30 am
Pollution in China is a hoax propagated by the US to make China’s industry less competitive.
Apneaman on Sat, 19th Nov 2016 11:42 am
Who knows what lurks in the waters?
Octopus in the parking garage is climate change’s canary in the coal mine
“University of Miami associate biology professor Kathleen Sullivan Sealey examined the photos and identified the octopus as likely one of two species common in South Florida waters. And she said Miami Beach residents ought to get used to seeing strange new creatures making sporadic appearances as rising sea levels push ocean waters deeper and more frequently onto land, along with some of the creatures that live in them.”
“When the drainage pipes in these buildings were designed, they were safely above the high-water marks, she said, but rising seas mean the pipes are now partially submerged during extreme high tides. And with water comes sea life, starting with fish. A drainage pipe combines two of an octopus’ favorite things, Sealey said — a meal and a cramped, dark space to crawl into. The ocean dweller was likely curled up inside the drain when the king tide forced it out and onto the garage floor, she said.”
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-beach/article115688508.html
Apneaman on Sat, 19th Nov 2016 12:05 pm
Rates of Hothouse Gas Accumulation Continue to Spike as the Amazon Rainforest Bleeds Carbon
“And so the world has warmed very rapidly regardless of the mighty effort on the part of forests like the Amazon. And that very heat is now harming the trees and damaging the earth to which they are wed. For when soils warm, the carbon they take in is leached out. And along with the heat comes fires that can, in a matter of minutes, reduce trees to ash and return the captured heat-trapping carbon to the world’s airs.”
“Large equatorial forests like the Amazon are now producing hothouse gasses rather than taking them in. In the Copernicus Observatory’s surface CO2 measure, we find areas over the Amazon Rainforest where concentrations range between 500 and 800 parts per million — or up to nearly double the present average global atmospheric concentration.”
https://robertscribbler.com/2016/11/18/rates-of-hothouse-gas-accumulation-continue-to-spike-as-the-amazon-rainforest-bleeds-carbon/
Apneaman on Sat, 19th Nov 2016 12:11 pm
Earth’s worst extinction “inescapably” tied to Siberian Traps, CO2, and climate change
“The link
Seth Burgess and Samuel Bowring confirmed the long-hypothesized link by comparing new, high-precision dates from volcanic rocks with equally precise dates for the mass extinction measured from volcanic ash in sediments spanning the end-Permian boundary in China. By ensuring the same labs and chemical tracers were used in both sets of measurements, they were able to compare the dates at an unprecedented precision of 0.04% or better, even though the rocks sampled were from locations thousands of miles apart.”
http://www.skepticalscience.com/Burgess-Bowring-2015-Siberian-Traps-Dates.html
Anonymous on Sat, 19th Nov 2016 3:24 pm
Yea, thats right exceptionalist. The world is going to shyt, and its all ASIAs (that is to say, China’s )fault. At least your rabid sinophobia is getting a little more subtle, lol.
Davy on Sat, 19th Nov 2016 4:12 pm
I would rather be an exceptionalist than a dumbass from Toranto who’s complete identity is based on anti-Americanism. What a childlike intelligence. Read the comment again stupid. I am blaming the west as well Asia.
Apneaman on Sat, 19th Nov 2016 4:19 pm
Town files lawsuit after largest earthquake in Oklahoma history
Residents sue wastewater injection well companies after damaging 5.8 quake.
“On Friday, resident of Pawnee, Oklahoma, filed a class action lawsuit against 27 energy companies, the Associated Press reported. Pawnee experienced the largest Oklahoma earthquake so far—a magnitude 5.8 quake in September. The attorney filing the lawsuit claims that hundreds of homes suffered some degree of damage, and the properties have lost value as a result of all this seismic activity.”
http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/11/town-files-lawsuit-after-largest-earthquake-in-oklahoma-history/
Anonymous on Sat, 19th Nov 2016 4:33 pm
Naw, you are not blaming the ‘west’, you are blaming Asia(China). amerika is the worlds biggest polluter and steals a third of the entire planets resources, often times at gunpoint. Or the gunpoint of its proxies. China will deal with its issues, or it wont. It wont be up to you either way. Your corrupt and decadent ’empire of interests’ and military bases, has already decided what is it going to ‘do’ about its problems. Ignore them, and keep increasing preparations for war. Aisa, at least the parts not under amerikan control, to their credit, are not mobilizing for war despite all the issues they face.
Davy on Sat, 19th Nov 2016 5:11 pm
tOrtanto dumbass got references so we can debate them? nAw, I thought so. (notice how I wrote like you do with the goofy capitalization style.) Lol
Apneaman on Sat, 19th Nov 2016 5:46 pm
“Northern Iowa received 10-15 inches of rain throughout the month of September, which is 300-400% above normal”
http://blog.ucsusa.org/andrea-basche/the-second-worst-flooding-in-iowa-history-that-you-probably-didnt-read-about
Shortend on Sat, 19th Nov 2016 6:18 pm
Ap, that should put a “smile” on Dr. James Hansen’s face being he is from Iowa.
Bittersweet is saying “I to!d you so…”
I was just there this past April in Decorah, Is…”Seeds Savers Exchange” is located there along with “Little House on the Prairie”.
Unfortunately, all I could see was miles and miles of industrialial agriculture operations.
Nothing will grow there once the juice is stopped. Doubt many if any know how to grow food crops the old fashion way.
Too bad…nice area and people.
Had a wonderful visit…nice Norwegian museum downtown…a must see.
makati1 on Sat, 19th Nov 2016 7:00 pm
Penury has it right: “Entire World’s Water Supply being Further Degraded”. Note the word, “further”.
The red water looks like America’s streams not too many years ago, down stream from any textile plant. Now America’s poisoned water is invisible chemicals and drugs. Still poisonous.
Even rainwater is no longer pure and clean. All of those particulates that go up, must come down, in the rain. Visible ones? The black belch when a diesel engine revs up or the black smoke from forest fires, etc. Invisible ones? All the chemicals evaporating into the atmosphere from plastics and chemical factories. Ever pass a plastics factory and smell a sweet smell? That is from those same evaporation. Breath deep and take another sip of that Koolaid. It will all be over soon.
Apneaman on Sat, 19th Nov 2016 7:04 pm
Shortend, I started fishing and hunting at 8 years old in BC, but I’m sure that method will only feed some folks for about 15 minutes after industrial civilization is done. Never grown anything other than weed. I know some are learning the old ways and permaculture and I’m sure it will help….for a bit. Every single thing that humans live off, other than a few frankenfoods one can’t live off, are species and a mass extinction don’t pick no favourites. Anyone paying attention can see that the first dominos have fallen.
102 million dead California trees ‘unprecedented in our modern history,’ officials say
“The number of dead trees in California’s drought-stricken forests has risen dramatically to more than 102 million in what officials described as an unparalleled ecological disaster that heightens the danger of massive wildfires and damaging erosion.”
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-dead-trees-20161118-story.html
Wait til that dead zone gets hit by lighting or human ignition. Going to make the current SE wildfires look like a fucking marshmallow roast.
Shortend on Sat, 19th Nov 2016 7:52 pm
Ap, for sure….folks are in denial and think they will squeak past the bad times before they hit hard. Its nice to dream of permaculture and sustainable transition that depends on a stable climate and cohesive society that observes boundaries.
It ain’t going to be…already we are past the point of no return.
Not to spoil any preppies plans….
Have a neighbor with a permaculture site and sticks out like a sore thumb among the manicured lawns. Says he bought the property because of the large lot size!
Yes sir, we all are living reality in our own manufactured dream world.
Boy, Mother Nature is going to give us a dose of “for every action, there is a repercussion”.
No matter, we are due for another chapter to the Bible….just kidding.⛪
makati1 on Sat, 19th Nov 2016 9:04 pm
Ap and Short, I think many will be able to sustain themselves for a long time with permaculture. They will live modified stone age lives, but, hey, those people were happy and satisfied. Obviously they were successful enough. We are here.
True some areas of the world are already experiencing the ecology decline, but most are not, and likely will not for a long time. Maybe decades or longer. You makes you choice and you takes your chance. That’s life, even in the past. Whither it is a tiger, a fire, or a banker that destroys your future is the only difference.
Shortend on Sun, 20th Nov 2016 5:26 am
Mak, keep on “thinking” and hoping in you island of perfection….
Remember the Zen saying…”Life strikes at any time!”
And another good one
“Mak, is it because of your wisdom, the eagle soars?”
Davy on Sun, 20th Nov 2016 6:34 am
WTF, what planet do you live on makati? Are you trying to justify your fantasy farm you are never at like you will be the chosen one to survive through Stone Age agriculture? The world has been completely coopted by modern man through globalism. Climate has been disrupted and human organizations destroyed by either or both overpopulation and dependency on complexity. Your fantasy farm suffers both. You have 80MIL too many people in the Philippines and it has quickly industrialized beyond sustainability. You are a locust event in waiting.
makati1 on Sun, 20th Nov 2016 6:40 am
Short, I don’t live on the island of perfection, but it is better than where you live. Ditto for Davy who thinks the U$ is the place to be when the SHTF. LMAO
makati1 on Sun, 20th Nov 2016 6:47 am
Davy, you have 50,000,000+ on food stamps. 33,000 armed gangs with over 2 million members. 300,000,000 guns in the hands of mostly fanatics? Many millions of drug addicts, etc. who will do anything for the next fix. And a whole culture dependent on cars and oil.
When the SHTF, how nice will the U$ be to live in? Who will starve? Who will die? Not me. I never said that I would survive the bottleneck but I have a better chance than you do. You like to read shit into my comments that fit your warped ‘patriotic’ agenda. Read the words closer and pay attention to the punctuation. LOL
Davy on Sun, 20th Nov 2016 6:52 am
BS, makati, you are the one who says that you are the chosen one living in a chosen place. You think you are special and somehow wise because you are on old man. Instead you are losing it probably from old age dementia. I have never said the US is a refuge. I will have challenges little different than you but just more locally related to my reality. A better refuge would be or board member Juan who is down in Uruguay currently working on his doomstead. Your Philippines and my Ozarks are both at risk. I have NUK war to worry about and a failing complex society including NUK power plant melt downs as a short list. You face a locust event of way too many people in a small area of ecologically destroyed Islands and neighboring seas. It is well know the worst of climate change is in your future. Huge relentless storms coming off the Pacific and rising temps will make your life miserable. I have high wet bulb temps in the summer and likely destructive storms. This points to how our points of view differ. I seek common ground you seek being a winner and declaring everyone else losers.
makati1 on Sun, 20th Nov 2016 7:05 am
Davy, I have more intelligence than you, and your cousin Boat, put together. You both think your shit doesn’t stink and you both know it all. Neither of you have ever been here so you know shit, just like Boat.
We all make our choice and live with it. Some of us are afraid to get too far from the family money. (Hint, hint) I’m glad I don’t have those chains.
Anyplace but the U$ is better as you will soon find out. Enjoy your ability to use the internet while you can. In fact, enjoy the few freedoms you have left while you can. They are disappearing fast.
Davy on Sun, 20th Nov 2016 7:29 am
Sure makati, it is easy to say you are more intelligent than me. Why not elaborate and we can compare notes. Words are cheap and bragging even cheaper. Everyone one hates a braggart especially when we know the truth about that braggart life. We do make choices. I chose to stay here and protect my family. You chose to selfishly desert your large family save your own skin. Yet, you likely moved to a place you will end up being all alone in once SHTF. An old man with no one to care for him. That is called a bag of shit that will be discarded.
Hubbert on Sun, 20th Nov 2016 2:39 pm
China will run out of water in 15 years.
peakyeast on Sun, 20th Nov 2016 4:49 pm
” but the problem is how to find the motivation to clean up and behave properly, and stop pollution at the source,”
That is not a chinese problem. That is a problem linked to overpopulation and civilisation.
makati1 on Sun, 20th Nov 2016 6:12 pm
Davy, read your posts of a year or so back. See who was bragging. Hint. No me. American’s cannot look into a mirror or their whole world disappears. I am tired refuting your bullshit.
Davy on Sun, 20th Nov 2016 6:18 pm
references, dumbass, talk is cheap
makati1 on Sun, 20th Nov 2016 6:29 pm
BTW Davy, My family can take care of themselves. What could a 72 year old man do except be an added burden on them? They all supported my choice to relocate. I give them an option when the SHTF in the U$. A place to live outside the Police States of America, if they chose to leave. I “protected” them for over 28 years and still help when I can. I gave them an education and a healthy, loving, stable environment to grow up in. They are independent and all employed at middle class jobs. They are happy.
As for my situation here, you have no idea, just a jealous hope that it is worse than yours. I have built a group of close friends that will be here for me if I need them, but I expect to go when I can no longer take care of myself. I have genes that seem to indicate that that will be at least a decade or two in the future. None of us may be here by then. I don’t worry or even think about it. Death will be welcome when that times comes. I have lived a long, healthy, happy life and the next years are all dessert. ^_^
Davy on Sun, 20th Nov 2016 6:34 pm
What’s the matter makati, get out of bed on the wrong side. I think I must have bitch slapped you good yesterday.@<@
peakyeast on Sun, 20th Nov 2016 7:10 pm
@mak: OMG !!
You left them in Police States of America and gave them a “healthy, loving, stable environment to grow up in”??
There is no contradiction here!! Move along
😀 LOL
makati1 on Sun, 20th Nov 2016 8:11 pm
Davy,you are just the bitch to do so, but I didn’t notice. Bitch slap? Slang? I knew a lot of bitches that should have been slapped, but that is no longer politically correct in Amerika, land of the snowflakes. At least I did not get out of the Stupid side of the bed like you did LMAO.
makati1 on Sun, 20th Nov 2016 8:14 pm
Peaky, they ‘grew up in the 70s and 80s, before the bullshit got to eye level where it could be seen. I do pity them, because they are raising their families in a huge pile of elitist shit and it is only getting deeper. Those chains are getting tighter and tighter all the time as freedom evaporates. They can come here and live on the farm with me. That is the best I can do for them.
peakyeast on Mon, 21st Nov 2016 5:59 am
@mak: No need to justify. – I just thought it was really funny to see those two things together.
makati1 on Mon, 21st Nov 2016 6:40 am
Yep, it is, Peaky. Different times. Different America’s. ^_^