China may need 300 years to beat desertification

[Yeti]

BEIJING — Huge population pressures, scarce rainfall and climate change have made China the world's biggest victim of desertification, a problem that could take 300 years to reverse, state media said Wednesday.

Overgrazing, excessive land reclamation and inappropriate water use also make it especially difficult to halt deserts from encroaching on large areas of land in the nation's arid north and west, the China Daily reported.

"China is still a country with the largest area of desertified land in the world," Zhu Lieke, deputy director of the State Forestry Administration, was quoted as saying.

About 27 percent of China's total land mass, or about 2.6 million square kilometres (1.04 million square miles), are considered desertified land, while another 18 percent of the nation's land is eroded by sand, the report said.

Experts believe that 530,000 square kilometres of the nation's deserts can be returned to green land, but the process will take 300 years at the current rate of reversing desertification by 1,700 square kilometres annually, it said.

Some of the worst land erosion in the world occurs in the basin of the Yellow River, China's second largest river, with 62 percent of the area affected by water and soil erosion, the paper said in a separate report.

AFP: China may need 300 years to beat desertification

 

[BigTree.CN]

Have no idea desertification in China is becoming an international issue.

 

[OldKool]

China can do anything and everything now, i am sure but the problem is that Chinese economy is highly nature intensive and requires lots of environmental degradation and exploitation so it will be a million dollar question that how china will be able to sustain its 5 trillion dollar economy in the long run!!!

 

[TenjikuKensei]

I heard about the desertification problem China is having from one of my professors who used to be a state department officer posted in China. Apparently there are sandstorm/duststorms caused in some of the major cities due to this problem.

However the 300 year number sounds retarded...its simply too long..as it implies technology will not advance for 300 years. If humans are still stuck in this world(I assume they would be exploring other galaxies by then) 300 years from now still dealing with such problems...one has to give up on the human race as a whole.lol

 

[NmHqh2JbVo]

China can do anything and everything now, i am sure but the problem is that Chinese economy is highly nature intensive and requires lots of environmental degradation and exploitation so it will be a million dollar question that how china will be able to sustain its 5 trillion dollar economy in the long run!!!

As long as the music plays, you dance, babe. Thinking too much into the future can hurt you. Look at what America is now, can you imagine it's just been 10 years, they think too much. Oh, mine, tell me about, all these political hyppies, you name it, John Steward and Sara Palin certainly stand out. It will keep them busy for another 10 years.

In the end, like life, who cares. You talk to yourself, "damn, that was a good run."

 

[somebozo]

Ok desertification in China and once of its cause it huge population pressure..what is india doing to curb that?? Indians should be concerned about that because desertification can only bring more desperation and poverty in land of misfortune. Unless india is looking forward to be the outsourced destination of choice for conducting more israeli nuke experiments.

 

[conworldus]

We need to plant more trees.

 

[applesauce]

^^ china plants the most trees in the world, billions are spent on this, the problem is most of the trees are of one variety and tree also take up much ground water, non-the-less gains are being made as we speak, small but still gains.

 

[Tractor]

I had just watched a movie 'The Darjeeling Limited' ,desertification is also a serious problem in India north?

 

[Kyusuibu Honbu]

I just saw a movie 'The Darjeeling Limited' ,desertification is also a serious problem in India north?

Don't know about desertification,but deforestation certainly is.

 

[Tractor]

Don't know about desertification,but deforestation certainly is.

At least the landscape and sky colour are similar,we face the same thing.