Yesterday, Greenpeace called for international cooperation to
rescue the seriously deteriorated source of the Yellow River by
pursuing renewable energy sources.
The organization commissioned a study on the influence of
climatic change on the river source's environment by the Cold and
Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute of
the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS),
conducted from June to September, which was released the same
day.
The report said that in the past five decades, the average
temperature of the river source region has risen 0.88 degrees
Celsius. As a result, glacier coverage has reduced by 17 percent,
causing a 2.39-billion-cubic-meter loss in water resources.
Liu Shiyin, from the CAS institute, warned that the shortage of
water resources and decline of flow rates would threaten regional
social and economic development.
According to the report, dramatic climatic changes have resulted
in a chain of environmental problems?that have gravely
undermined the region's water retaining capacity.
Li Moxuan, Greenpeace climatic changes project manager, said the
key to the problem is to promote the use of renewable energy in a
bid to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
Liu suggested that solar and wind energy would be ideal
substitutes.
On August 31, the government launched a 7.5 billion yuan (US$925
million) project to protect Sanjiangyuan, the source of the
country's three major rivers, the Yangtze, Yellow River and Lancang
River (also known as the Mekong).
(Xinhua News Agency October 11, 2005)
