Terraforming China

Millions of people and livestock in China short of water

Droughts in SW China’s Yunnan Province and Chongqing municipality as well as in the NE Liaoning Province have left millions of people and livestock short of drinking water and destroyed hundreds of thousands of hectares of crops.

Disaster Calendar 2012 – April 2

[April 2, 2012] Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,444 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

Xinba reservoir in Shilin County, southwest China’s Yunnan Province. A villager walks on the drought-parched bed of  the Xinba reservoir in Yunnan Province. An exceptional drought has persisted in Yunnan for three consecutive years, leaving millions of people and livestock short of water. “A total of 7.9 million people and 676,650 hectares farmland of 125 counties all over the province have been affected by the drought.” (Xinhua/Jin Liangkuai). More images …

• China.  Droughts in SW China’s Yunnan Province and Chongqing municipality as well as in the NE Liaoning Province have left millions of people and livestock short of drinking water and destroyed hundreds of thousands of hectares of crops.
  • Yunnan Province. An exceptional drought has persisted in Yunnan for three consecutive years, leaving millions of people and livestock short of water.
  • Chongqing Municipality. A severe drought in southwest China’s Chongqing municipality has left at least a million people and livestock short of drinking water and destroyed  are short of drinking water and destroyed about 100,000 hectares of crops, the municipal flood control and drought relief authorities have said.
  • Liaoning Province.  “The amount of precipitation received between November 2011 and mid-February this year was 84 percent lower than that of previous years, exacerbating the effects of the drought,” officials said, Xinhua reported.

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• Mass Die-offs

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• 2012 Disaster Calendar: Collapse has already Begun

Drought and Deluge

• China’s War on Nature Intensifies Posted on March 23, 2012
• Drought and Deluge Index

Never Mind the Enviro Impact of China’s Dams

Dams on tributaries of China’s Yellow River could collapse anytime!

At least five newly built dams on branches of the Yellow River in arid Gansu province, northeast China face imminent collapse, just a year or so after they were built, said China Daily.

“Improper construction procedures, disqualified workers, embezzlement of construction funds and mismanagement of local water resource departments are threatening the safety of the dams, according to China Youth Daily.”

“One dike more than 80-m long and 20-m high, built in 2006 in Yuanxian county on the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River, has developed a breach about 10 meters wide in the middle.According to nearby villagers, at least five newly-built dams are in very fragile condition, the newspaper said.”

The dams, paid for by the central government, are managed by the Ministry of Water Resource, under their “soil and water conservation project of the Yellow River” program.

“With a length of 5,464 km, the Yellow River, dubbed the “mother river” of China, suffers the most serious soil erosion in the world, especially along its middle and upper reaches. The average amount of mud and sand washed into the river every year reaches 1.6 billion tons.” China Daily said.

“Since 2003, China has poured a total of 83 billion yuan ($12 billion) into tackling soil erosion along the river and constructed more than 160,000 dams, according to Xinhua News Agency.

“As flood season approaches in July, August and September, China’s dam safety is coming under heavy pressure and inspections show many of them are not in good condition, Minister of Water Resources Chen Lei said last month.”

The Chilling Statistics:

• Total number of dams, dikes and reservoirs in China: 91,500 units
• Units in potential danger: 37,000  (or just over 40 percent of the country’s total)
• Reinforced:  Under 3,650 dams
• In need of immediate reinforcement: More than  7,600 Units
• Chen Lei said that between 1999 and 2008,  some 59 dams were breached in China, 30 as a result of torrential rains and another 29 due to defects arising from poor construction.

Following quotes are from Ecology and Biodiversity, The University of Hong Kong: Conservation & Management of Freshwater Ecosystems ENVM8016 (2008)

• North-south water transfer from Yangtze to Yellow River (& northern cities); seen as essential for >100 million people depending on the river
• Yellow River did not reach the sea (no measurable flow) in 22 of the years between 1972 & 1997; duration of annual dryness in lower course was ~8 days in 1970s, 11 days in 1980s & 226 days in 1997
• 3,382 dams on Yellow River can store >90% of mean annual discharge; since 1997 flow has been optimized (by controlled release) to ensure that some water flows to the sea throughout the year; involves difficult trade-offs due to absolute water scarcity
• On large scales, dams reduce the downhill transfers of material from land to sea (e.g. amount & quality of water) & trap >30% of global sediment flux (retard SW silica inputs). Other effects could include blockage of uphill transfers of material.
• Dams (& overfishing) can reduce or prevent upstream breeding migrations of salmon, with significant effects on stream & riparian ecosystems – as seen in NW North America

Related Links:

• North China on Drought Red Alert
• China Quake 1st Anniversary
• China birth defects rise steeply
• Shame on Chinese Govt
• Chinese Plight
• China’s Topsoil Nightmare Is Real