Chinese Gvn Admits Their Water Problems Worst In The World - AFP

[hatrack]

China's water crisis -- from severe shortages to heavy pollution -- is the worst in the world and requires urgent action, a top government official was quoted as saying by state media Tuesday. China was "facing a water crisis more severe and urgent than any other country in the world," Vice Minister of Construction Qiu Baoxing told a conference in Beijing on developing China's urban water supply.

The construction ministry is responsible for supplying water to residents. "We've got to solve the problem before it is too late," warned Qiu, according to the China Daily.

China's water supply is too small for its huge population of 1.3 billion people. Its per capita water availability is about a quarter of the world average and it is expected to get worse, partly due to falling groundwater tables, the report said. In addition, among China's seven major rivers, five are seriously polluted.

Waste was also a major problem, as more than 20 percent of the water supply in China's cities are leaked out from the water pipe networks, Qian Yi, a professor of environmental engineering from Tsinghua University and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, was quoted as saying.

EDIT

http://www.terradaily.com/news/water-earth-05zl.html

Color me cynical, but could this also be viewed as a justification for the Yangtze Diversion?

[Spinzonner]

1. Obviously they need help from our EPA

so their government can learn to lie about environmental quality

:sarcasm:

[acmejack]

2. We know they are into Mega-dams

[NNadir]

3. I very much doubt China's water is "the worst in the world."

Although it's a terrible thought, you have to compare.

In Bangladesh, a huge portion of the water supply is contaminated with arsenic, leading to profound health problems, including death. When the water from the rivers became depleted or too polluted for use, they began digging wells tapping fossil water, which had been percolated for centuries over arsenic laden ores.

http://pubs.acs.org/isubscribe/journals/cen/83/i22/html/8322books.html

http://pubs.acs.org/isubscribe/journals/cen/83/i14/html/8314notw3.html?emFrom=emLogin

Irrespective of who has it the "worst," it is very clear that those countries with the the greatest population are exactly those countries with the worst environmental conditions. The world's population will be reduced, either through action or catastrophe. Like so many other environmental problems, there is no easy answer. The best choices are, unfortunately, only those that are least obnoxious.