200 Years To Clean China's Bohai Sea, Even If Sewage Flows Stopped Today

[hatrack]

It would take at least 200 years to clean up Bohai Sea, China's sole inland sea, even if no more sewage was poured into it, the People's Daily quotes an expert as saying.

Bohai Sea earned the unlovely distinction of "worst polluted" sea area in China after an investigation by the State Oceanic Administration (SOA). Industrial sewage, pesticides, fertilizers and the dumping of garbage have gravely polluted Bohai Sea, People's Daily reports.

The SOA investigation shows that, from 2001 to 2005, the polluted area of the Bohai Sea fluctuated between 19,000 and 32,000 square kilometers, or 24 to 41 percent of the total Bohai area. There are a number of densely-populated industrial areas along the Bohai coast.

Since it is a continental sea, Bohai Sea does not exchange much water with outer seas. It means that pollutants accumulate.

EDIT

http://english.eastday.com/eastday/englishedition/nation/userobject1ai2390057.html