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Subscribe here <http://www.mailermailer.com/x?oid=1018092b> Regards, Andrew Scheineson Deputy Editor in Chief, China Green News [image: China Environment Brief] <http://eng.greensos.cn> *CHINA ENVIRONMENT BRIEF **(A News Summary from China Green News<http://m1e.net/c?119502688-enShqD1BFs0Os%405293565-qx2xoWMT49N6A> )** Wednesday May 5, 2010** In Today’s Brief* ~Paradise Imperiled in Yunnan ~Study Shows Wetlands Decline ~Three Gorges to Get Water Quality Monitor ~Algal Bloom on the High Seas ~Xinjiang Hit by Nasty Weather ~English Stories from the Chinese Press *Paradise Imperiled: After Drought, Yunnan Faces Ecological Crisis* In a world of cycles, sometimes it only takes one big anomaly to throw everything off kilter. Scientists and environmental officials worry that the months-long drought was enough to wreak catastrophic ecological damage<http://m1e.net/c?119502688-Pjlmkm8ym4gKM%405293566-8g3nl92qYw.6k>[Sichuan News] in biodiversity-rich Yunnan Province. Even as the record-breaking dry spell reaches an end, some experts warn that its environmental impact is only beginning, as interference in reproductive cycles, ecological damage, and the spread of adaptable pests, among other problems, carry long-term and possibly permanent repercussions. At present, the effects of the disaster on Yunnan’s animal and plant population—which accounts for half of China’s biodiversity on four percent of its land—are clearly visible. Wild elephants have lumbered out of their mountains jungles for extended periods of time to forage for food. Shrinking wetlands have led to substantial fish death and subsequent loss of birds that prey on them. Amphibians, unable to regulate their body temperatures, have died en masse. Population numbers for protected plant species<http://m1e.net/c?119502688-8neNYhIf4Zf3k%405293567-1vmpGPU7iRNg%2e>[People’s Daily] like the red bean fir, dove tree, and Sago palm saw major declines in Yunnan’s nature reserves. Practically every ecosystem in Yunnan was affected by the drought, and some of the available data are simply staggering. 5,000 square kilometers of nature reserve land (20% of total reserve area in Yunnan) is believed to have suffered some damage. Waterfowl populations at the Napa Hai Nature Reserve outside of the town of Shangri La were down 70% due to dwindling fish populations. Pest-ridden forest area has increased 72% over last year to nearly 2,500 square kilometers, exasperating the advantage plant parasites have had in responding to climate change. The ecological disequilibrium caused by the drought will not be resolved quickly or easily. One expert warned that some forests might need at least three years to recover<http://m1e.net/c?119502688-azFDlJP2QnlOY%405293568-hrwmQu1ATY1lw>[People’s Daily]. Some may not recover at all. Faced with the immensity of this environmental disaster, the provincial Forestry Bureau has invested 630 million RMB into nature reserve drought relief, and has called for emergency efforts in monitoring wildlife conditions, patrolling, and preventing drought-related deaths of major protected species. According to a 2004 *Biodiversity and Conservation* article<http://m1e.net/c?119502688-jEmEdjZ9DL4A2%405293569-ACIZFAB7qXa/Q>, of Yunnan’s 15,000 seed plant species and 1,836 vertebrates, 151 plants and 243 animals—42.6% and 72.5% of China’s total, respectively—are rare and endangered. A significant number are found only in Yunnan. For Xinhua’s English story on nature reserve damage, click here<http://m1e.net/c?119502688-JjnDDMqIN9DHg%405293570-6f.sATqLzr6hk> . *New Study Maps Out Decline of China’s Wetlands* Natural wetlands have declined nearly 17%<http://m1e.net/c?119502688-JJjx8uTw8tDMY%405293571-VDDPBS5HdPhgI>in size across China in the last 20 years, the Chinese Academy of Sciences Remote Sensing Institute told the *Science and Technology Daily*. While melting permafrost and glacial ice have formed some new wetlands in Tibet, these wetlands are temporary and perform limited ecological functions. The once vast wetlands in northeastern Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia (which earned this area the moniker the “Great Northern Wasteland”), on the other hand, have declined by more than 10,000 square kilometers between 1990 and 2008. Since 1950, 80% of the wetlands of northeastern Heilongjiang have been wiped out through conversion to agriculture. *Chongqing is Gorges, But How’s Good Is Its Water Quality?* According to Xinhua, the Chongqing municipal government will build a pollution monitoring platform<http://m1e.net/c?119502688-9DCdwXX7odPmM%405293572-/UpWaxq//q/5Y>[Xinhua] at the Three Gorges Dam, as part of water quality improvement goals inscribed into the upcoming 12th 5-Year Plan. The platform will measure changes in water quality trends and act as an early warning system for sudden spikes in pollution. Concerns have been raised repeatedly about the potential for silt and toxic substances to accumulate behind the dam, creating the potential for environmental disasters<http://m1e.net/c?119502688-msDaSkCq1sZzA%405293573-.jQtFXRGxqTLQ>[NPR]. The Chinese government has claimed <http://m1e.net/c?119502688-09wY0zAL2cz3k%405293574-WrsfCy3ZQgwHI>[Xinhua English] that pollution problems are being dealt with in the drainage areas leading up to the dam. *Red Tide Rolls Into Fujian Waters * The Fujian Province Ocean and Fisheries Department reported Monday that a 380 square kilometer algal bloom<http://m1e.net/c?119502688-ONUZ1HMTxH7oE%405293575-7mHebi6CGsI5Q>[China News]—more than twice the size of Liechtenstein—has appeared off the coast of Pingtao County, facilitated by calm seas, high temperatures and increasing humidity. It is possible that the bloom will soon make its way over to the city of Xiamen. *During Rough Weather, Xinjiang Tries to Remember Its Favorite Things* Xinjiang has been having a rough time of it, lately. In addition to the usual sandstorms that may remind some people of the dune planet Arrakis, this northwestern autonomous region has been fighting off a wide range of foul weather<http://m1e.net/c?119502688-tk7yZ4NQ/072Q%405293576-Ss6siKbbB4ND2>[China News]. Unusually heavy winds have crippled electric systems and started fires; the worst hailstorm in 60 years pelted crops with icy stones up to 2 cm in diameter; pests are having a field day with winter wheat, damaging up to 90,000 hectares of crops; and flooding has submerged corn and cotton fields along the Yili River. Xinjiang is not an easy place to live in on the best of days, but these additional burdens must be making some think yearningly of brown paper packages tied up in string. *English Stories from the Chinese Press** May 5* HK environment chief heads to Shanghai<http://m1e.net/c?119502688-soz.FLoSUmSR.%405293577-VM3.BNiIJo7AI>(Xinhua) China attaches great importance to peaceful use of nuclear energy," envoy says <http://m1e.net/c?119502688-LWhAhf8wSgwXE%405293578-YUQP8JQ5DSyQw>(Xinhua) * May 4* China ends emergency response as southwestern drought eases<http://m1e.net/c?119502688-ZywjFakfzVYxw%405293579-MU3l0bMkj5Juw>(Xinhua) Shanghai Expo visitors leave 190 tons of garbage per day<http://m1e.net/c?119502688-Rf0jttOY2PBJY%405293580-8LsJVA5q20y7I>(Xinhua) * May 3* Oil pipeline resumes operation after leakage stopped in east China<http://m1e.net/c?119502688-jz6mfsQlzmbnY%405293581-EInDlUviBITJE>(Xinhua) ~Prepared by Andrew Scheineson ------------------------------ China Environment Brief and China Green News are products of Green Earth Volunteers, a Beijing-based NGO founded by environmental journalist Wang Yongchen. While the editors of this brief strive to be as factually accurate and informative as possible while providing this brief free of charge, time and personnel limitations mean that we can't double check every fact we include in our additional research. If you think we've made a mistake, please let us know, and we will try our best to address the problem. The Brief can and should be used as you wish, but if you wish to republish any content, please provide proper attribution to China Green News<http://m1e.net/c?119502688-sKNKMw8uxfhAQ%405293565-1YnVT10Hgjm4w> ! To unsubscribe/change profile: click here<http://www.mailermailer.com/x?u=119502688u-c8e0270a>. To subscribe: click here <http://www.mailermailer.com/x?oid=1018092b>. ------------------------------ Email list management powered by http://MailerMailer.com
