A glimmer of hope is once again extinguished as the South to North transfer program shows that it is back on. Perhaps too far down the path of face to turn back around, especially when 20 million migrant workers are on layoff, Work has started on Yangtze dam for China’s south-to-north water diversion project Zhang [...]

A quick two and a half minute clip on China’s spreading desert. Nothing really new about this except that the area is new (usually Inner Mongolia and Hebei provinces are the backdrops), and nothing new about the causes (deforestation, poor water management, and drought), but something new in the level of honesty from the filmed [...]

During the summer of 2007, 2 of China’s largest lakes (Tai Lake in Jiangsu province and Chao Lake in Yunnan province) caked over in a green algae. It was an issue that sparked a new level of environmental awareness, and while much of the media focus was on surrounding chemical factories, the reasons behind the [...]

Part an parcel with deforestation, drought, over grazing, and poor water management systems come sand storms: it started at 10 a.m. in Xilingol, in the central part of the region, then spread 57,000 square kilometers. It reduced visibility to less than 800 meters. The sand storm expanded and moved eastward Thursday afternoon, affecting northern Hebei [...]

The Scientific American ArticleScientists urge Chinese farmers to use fertilizer better was tipped me off to the recently released study Reducing environmental risk by improving N management in intensive Chinese agricultural systems This study examines grain yields and N loss pathways using a synthetic approach in 2 of the most intensive double-cropping systems in China: [...]

Following the news that China was hiring airplanes to “make rain”, comes a series of media reports that in aggregate show how series the water and land management issues in China have become. Forest fire delays trains in east China’s Fujian Fire breaks out in tree farm in SW China’s Yunnan Province Drought could worsen [...]

Last Thursday the China Environment Forum at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC hosted a fascinating presentation, “Temperatures Rising: Climate Change, Water and the Himalayas.” A web cast will soon be archived here here. Speakers included: – Isabel Hilton, chinadialogue – Kenneth Hewitt, Wilfrid Laurier University, Cold Regions Research Centre – Katherine Morton, The [...]

Parts of northern and central China have seen little snow or rain since November last year. Eight provinces, and around half of China’s wheat growing areas, are at risk from the drought. Poor and inadequate irrigation is a key element in this crisis. Lack of proper irrigation facilities in hilly farm towns such as Xinmi [...]

At a recent conference in Guilin, Chen Lui said that The Chinese Water Resources Ministry plans to reduce consumption per unit of gross domestic product 60 percent by 2020. the covereage of the speech was brief to say the least (someone needs to start taking better notes), and no “solutions” were mentioned, but from the [...]