MagnumFND
TRACES: YELLOW RIVER
Couple on the banks of the Yellow River. In 1997, the Yellow river symbolised all that was wrong with China's environment: 40% of its waters were severely polluted. The river was so overexploited that it failed to reach the sea for 226 days a year making the prospect of terminal dormancy a realistic possibility. Since then, however, the flow has been unbroken, and in 2010 the ailing river became an award-winning model when the Yellow River Conservancy Commission won the Lee Kwan Yu Water prize in Singapore. But there is still a long way to go before the Yellow river is off life-support. Demand for water in northern China continues to grow faster than efficiency gains. As a result, environmental pressure has shifted from the Yellow river to its tributaries – which are increasingly polluted – and underground aquifers, which are diminishing at an alarming rate. Hejin, Shanxi, China. 2011
TRACES: YELLOW RIVER
Couple on the banks of the Yellow River. In 1997, the Yellow river symbolised all that was wrong with China's environment: 40% of its waters were severely polluted. The river was so overexploited that it failed to reach the sea for 226 days a year making the prospect of terminal dormancy a realistic possibility. Since then, however, the flow has been unbroken, and in 2010 the ailing river became an award-winning model when the Yellow River Conservancy Commission won the Lee Kwan Yu Water prize in Singapore. But there is still a long way to go before the Yellow river is off life-support. Demand for water in northern China continues to grow faster than efficiency gains. As a result, environmental pressure has shifted from the Yellow river to its tributaries – which are increasingly polluted – and underground aquifers, which are diminishing at an alarming rate. Hejin, Shanxi, China. 2011