Over the last few years, I have been keeping tabs on a number of algae breakouts in China.  Taihu was the Chernobyl of them all as it this lake was a well touristed destination, and the media was able to run with the story.  Later in the year you had 10 tributaries of the Yangtze suffer from “red tide”, and that was followed by the Qingdao incident just before the Olympics.

In its article, The Expanding ‘Dead Sea’ Areas in China, Wen Long looks into this problem to see just how wide the problem is and what can be done.

At present there are over 200 offshore bodies of water in China that are seriously contaminated.

There are many different kinds of these contaminants.

Once such a contaminant enters a body of water, it will quickly cause oxygen deficiency, killing sea birds and marine lives. The result is the creation of large “ocean deserts” or “dead sea” areas—that is, areas with low oxygen levels.

The problem, as seen at Taihu and on the Yangtze, was a pretty easy one to piece together and to get my head around.  First, you have large quantities of pollutants entering the stream from industry and agriculture, and then you mix that with a severe and sustained drought in the south.  As water levels drop and concentrations rise, you get a “red tide” or a much larger algae bloom.

It was when Qingdao experienced its bloom prior to the Olympics though that i paused, and it is where I believe many others paused as well.  After all, on an open body of water.  the ocean.  A body of water that is supposeidly rising thanks to global warming.

So, that begged the question of just how pulluted are China’s rivers?  How is it that the contamination levels are so high in the rivers that when they dump into the ocean the concentration levels are still high enough to see large scale catalyzations of algae blooms?

As China’s pollution intensifies, nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous are pouring into the sea from the Yangtze River. Experts think the excessive nutrient salts lead to the fast growth of different varieties of seaweed.

Given the right temperature and light, seaweed can spread to form “red tide.” Ultimately, the seaweed, having absorbed all the nutrients, starts to fall toward the sea bottom where it becomes food for bacteria. This process consumes large amounts of oxygen, and thus an area of oxygen deficiency comes into being.

so, what is being done?  who is active in the area?  and does the government really understand the problem and are willing to do something about it?

For that, I point to our recent intereviews of several leading environmental NGOs in Beijing.  there are some varying opinions on all these questions, but in general the answer is that the government is taking some of the steps needed to begin the process, that the support environmental NGOs are receiving is growing, and that progress is being made.

A couple areas going forward to think about, and focus on, will be the role and usage of agricultural chemicals.  I have seen reports that the average farmer in China uses 3-4 times the same amount of fertilizer than their western peers would, a sign of better education and products being needed.  At the same time, a trip up any of the rives will provide enough examples of where government regulation and oversight are needed to reduce and reverse the industrial waste contaminates that are flowing from China’s factories unabated.

The problem is that there have been dozens of other blooms in other locations, and for me one of the things I fear the most is that the water of the Yangtze will see significant blooms that could have an significant impact on China’s agriculure and industrial production.

Largely not an issue for the Taihu or Qingdao bay contaminations, the Yantze river delta accounts for 40% of China’s GDP, and a significant proportion of China’s population lives along the Yangtze.

Earlier this year, there was a report of red algae blooms in 10 tributaries of the Yangtze, then 4-6 weeks ago there was another report of a 20KM algae slick, and now there is a report that algae is impacting areas near the 3 gorges dam.

Just one more example of where opportunities lie for water and agricultural technology firms to assist with the problems.