The solemn monkey

According to reports from China, large parts of the Yangtze river are irreversibly polluted, with approximately 1/10 of the 6,200km-long river in a “critical condition” and nearly 30% of major tributaries seriously polluted. It is estimated that 14 billion tons of waste are dumped into the river each year, which supplies water to almost 200 cities along its banks and accounts for 35% of the country’s total fresh water resources. Aquatic life has also had a negative impact, with the annual harvest of aquatic products falling from 427,000 tons in the 1950s to 100,000 tons in the 1990s.

Yang Guishan, of the Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, said, “The impact of human activities on the Yangtze water ecology is largely irreversible…It’s a pressing job to regulate such activities in all the Yangtze drainage areas and promote harmonious development of man and nature.”

SOURCE