AP Environmental Science

The world’s largest water storage facility, the Three Gorges Dam in China, has been significantly polluted by pesticides, fertilizer, sewage, and passenger boats. Not only has the Three Gorges Dam reservoir been polluted by the above listed causes, but also over 600 kilometers of the Yangtze River in China is “critically polluted.” This comes out after a study done by the Chinese Academy of Science, WWF organization, and the Yangtze RIver Water Resources Commission.  Along with the dam and the river, about 30% of the major tributaries to the river are “seriously polluted.”

Three Gorges along the Yangtze River, Photo Credit: www.wikipedia.org

Ever since the rapid economic growth, the condition of the environment in China has been decreasing. Approximately 14.2 billion tons of waste a year are put into the Yangtze River, which is 35% of China’s freshwater resources. China’s aquatic products in the 1950s were 427,000 tons, but in the 1990s they were down to 100,000 tons. Let’s see. 427,000 tons - 100,000 tons = 327,000 tons decrease in the amount of aquatic products in China.

The article discussed the pollution problems that are going on, but it didn’t discuss the possible solutions or if China has any plans to disrupt this pollution. I wonder if it is illegal to dump the pesticides, fertilizer, and sewage into the water. If it isn’t, the government should regulate the dumping. I don’t understand why the people would be dumping all of that stuff into the river, if it makes up 35% of their freshwater resources. Maybe it is not really having an impact now and they aren’t really looking to the future.

Article: China’s Yangtze River Extensively Polluted, Study Says  By: Reuters http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=12582

A week from today 12 leaders of South American countries will meet with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to discuss the building of a 5,000 mile natural gas pipline. This pipeline would take OPEC nation’s gas reserves to South American nations, such as Argentina and Brazil. This meeting comes at a time when tensions are high with Brazil. Brazil has been cooperating with the United States to promote the use of ethanol. Chavez claims that an increase in use of ethanol will make world hunger increase. Chavez says that ethanol is not needed and that the countries participating in the conference should look for ways to reduce energy consumption. He is putting down the US calling for regional support for “anti-US politics.” Venezuela has the hemisphere’s largest oil reserves and is the 5th leading exporter of oil to the United States.

I agree with Chavez that new ways need to be developed to reduce energy consumption, but I am not sure that the way to go about it is by going against the United States. In my opinion, he is just trying to coax the regional South American countries into hating the US by offering them a natural gas pipeline to their countries. The article did not discuss much about why Chavez said that world hunger will increase with the use of ethanol and I am not quite sure what he means by that.

Article : Venezuela’s Chavez Challenges US with Energy Summit by Brian Ellsworth http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=12580