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The Thirsty Dragon: Rains Bring Relief for Six-month China Drought, But Chronic Water Problems Loom
June 12th, 2011
Courtesy of Circle of Blue, an article on how – in spite of recent rainfall – China’s dry spell is the latest in a growing trend of severe water shortages threatening China’s food production, energy generation, and accelerating modernization. As the report note: “…Heavy rainfall began in China last Friday, easing the effects of a prolonged […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: North China Is Drying And Dying?
June 2nd, 2011
Courtesy of The New York Times, a detailed report on concerns surrounding China’s plan to alleviate its water crisis. As the article notes: “North China is dying. A chronic drought is ravaging farmland. The Gobi Desert is inching south. The Yellow River, the so-called birthplace of Chinese civilization, is so polluted it can no longer […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: Is Three Gorges Responsible For Dwindling Yangtze?
June 2nd, 2011
Via Foreign Policy, a report on debate that has emerged in China over the role of the Three Gorges Dam in exacerbating this summer’s devastating drought in China. As the article notes: SHANGHAI — In glittering Shanghai, known for its hopping night life and influx of Western luxury stores, a VIP cocktail reception last Thursday […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: Re-Nu’ed Momentum For Dams
May 26th, 2011
Via China Dialogue, an updated look at how once-defeated plans to build a cascade of dams on China’s Nu River are regaining momentum: The Nu River valley in Yunnan province – known as China’s Grand Canyon – sits at the epicentre of China’s seismic zone. This dramatic landscape is also wracked by torrential rains that […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: The Push To Dam China’s Rivers
May 19th, 2011
Courtesy of Columbia University’s State of the Planet blog, an interesting look at China’s campaign to vastly expand its hydroelectric power (HEP) capacity, a technology that depends completely on the availability of abundant water, in the face of widespread drought. As the article notes: The Three Gorges Dam from the air. Photo credit: Euclid vanderKroew […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: Central China’s Reservoirs Become Dead Water
May 19th, 2011
Courtesy of The New York Times, an article detailing the crisis unfolding in drought ravaged China: “…A severe drought along the Yangtze River region in central China has rendered nearly 1,400 reservoirs in Hubei Province temporarily unusable, devastated farm fields and made drinking water scarce, according to a report on Monday by Xinhua, the state […]
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