Shocking deterioration at the Sources of the Three Rivers |
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http://www.qhnews.com ¡¡
2004-12-30 10:47
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QHNEWS--The ecological situation in the Area of the Sources of the Three Rivers , formally named ¡°the water tower of the nation¡±, has been continuously deteriorating in recent years.
The perennial alpine snow in Qumalai County , where the source of the Yellow River is located , has decreased by 95 percent. 90 percent of lakes in Maduo County has become dry and the amount of lakes has dropped from 4,000 to 300.
The grassland degradation in Zhiduo County and Zaduo County, where are the sources of the Yangtze River and the Lancang River respectively, has been increasingly deepened due to disaster of rat and drought.
Gartsai, Director General of the Weather Bureau of Qumalai County, says that they have been keeping supervision on the ecological situation in the source area of the Yellow River and the result indicates that the perennial alpine snow in this area has already decreased by 95 percent, which results in the drying up of 50 percent rivers in the area.
The underground water table has declined 5 meters in the past decade. Dust wind and sand storm had never troubled the area a decade ago while there are more than 10 times of dust wind and 3 times of sand storm annually.
Maduo County is the first county the Yellow River passes.
It was ¡°a firstly rich-getting county¡±that enjoyed high reputation in the early 1980s. Nevertheless, some nomads have to move to elsewhere and ecologically fall into refugee because of the decreased water, dried lakes and degraded grassland around the source of the Yellow River.
When come to Zhiduo County and Zaduo County, rats¡¯holes fill the grassland densely and hedgeshrews and marmots can be seen everywhere.
Rats crushed by vehicles passing by can also be seen on the county highways. There are more than 700 rat¡¯s holes per hectare in areas with severe rat disaster, according to pasture departments.
The degradation grassland area caused by rat disaster in Zaduo County amounts to 9.0815 million mu, accounting for 20 percent of the useful grassland area.
The deteriorated ecology and the ever expanded area of degraded grassland bring great impact on local nomads¡¯ life.
A villager in Zaduo tells the reporter that 4,000 mu grassland of his family has been affected by rats to different extent , so that he has to diminish the amount of his live-stocks from previous 500 sheep to a little bit more than 50 and 200 cattle to 100.
The global warmth , persistent drought and frequent human activities are key reasons to lead to the continuous ecological deterioration.
Now measures such as migrating and limiting amount of livestocks are taken to maintain the ecological balance at the Sources of the Three Rivers. Editem (2004-08-25)
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