The Six-Legged Starfish
THE EFFECTS OF POLLUTION:
The pollution of the Yellow River is greatly affecting the country in many ways.
-Farmers are unable to produce the crops needed because of clean water shorages. If they were to use the polluted water on their crrops, the population would become sick.
-All the sunlight of the city is blocked out from polluted clouds.
-Affecting worldwide events: In the 2008 Beijing olypics, the air quality had just met the standards. Soon after the games ended, the spread of pollution quickly came back.
-The population of China is becoming sicker. About 300 million people in China (quarter of the country's population, almost equivalent to the entire U.S. population) drink contaminated water every day, 2/3 of these people (190 million) fall ill. More than 30,000 children are dying each year from diarrhea caused by contaminated water.
-China’s water has been blamed for the recent high rates of various health abnormalities, such as cancer, stunted growth, low IQs, miscarriages, and birth defects.
THE HISTORY OF THE YELLOW RIVER:
The Yellow River is the second largest river in China, after the Yangtze, and is the seventh largest river in the world. It is named the "Yellow River" because of the huge amounts of loose sediment that turn the water yellow. In ancient Chinese civilizations, the river was known as "The Mother River" of China because of all the water it provided for the country. During these medieval and ancient times, however, the river was also known for its catastrophic floods that killed millions of people. Due to recent pollution and its flooding history, the river is also known as "China's Sorrow". "In the past, man was needed to be protected from the water [flooding] and now the water is needed to be protected from man [pollution]" -unknown
MAIN CAUSES OF POLLUTION IN THE YELLOW RIVER:
Sadly, the water in the Yellow River has become so polluted over the last decade, it is no longer useful for drinking water. How does a huge water resource like the Yellow River become so polluted? All of the pollution in this river is caused by rapid industrial development alone. Argricultural chemicals from farming, such as pesticides and fertilizers, are used on crops and turn into toxic runoff that can pollute the ground water. Factories are also big pollution contributers along the Yellow River by releasing untreated waste and chemicals into the river. Cantaminants flowing out of sewers along the river are prime pollutants as well.
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