Erosion Accelerating Across China - More Than 1/3 Of Land Affected -Xinhua

[hatrack]

BEIJING - More than a third of China's land is affected by soil erosion, state media said on Tuesday, underlining a threat to the country's ability to provide enough food and water for its 1.3 billion people.

China last year lost more than 1.6 billion tonnes of soil, the equivalent of one centimetre of earth over a 125,000 square kilometre (48,000 sq mile) area, Xinhua news agency said, adding the worst-hit regions were around the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers.
Soil erosion had affected a total of 3.6 million square km of land, accounting for 37 percent of the country's territory, Vice Minister of Water Resources E Jingping was quoted as saying.

Loss of topsoil is reducing China's already limited arable land. The country has 21 percent of the world's population, but only 10 percent of its tillable earth.

Erosion is also fueling desertification in China's north, where the Gobi Desert has grown dramatically over the past decade and crept closer to Beijing, which suffers thick sandstorms almost every spring. "Most of the lost soil resulted from over-development and unreasonable construction projects," Xinhua said, citing a report from the Water Resources Ministry.

EDIT

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/34224/story.htm

[aquart]

1. Uh oh.

This is what happens when you don't have a free watchdog press. Or a nitpicking opposition party.

The stage is being set for some ugly wars of desperation.

We have ALL been rotten stewards of our children's inheritance.

china's turning to desert. america will lose its coastal cities. canada is going to rule the damn world.

[madrchsod]

2. links

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/06/0601_chinadust.html
China's Dust Storms Raise Fears of Impending Catastrophe

http://www.lakepowell.net/asiandust.htm
Asian Dust Clouds - Page 1-2-3

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17119
EO Newsroom: New Images - Dust Storm in the Taklimakan Desert