The marine environmental quality report for 2000 was released on Friday, and the news wasn’t good. The report predicts increasing heavy pollution for inshore areas, three or four disastrous tidal waves this year, and a rise in the sea level that could affect coastal cities.
Qu Qiang, deputy director of the State Oceanic Administration’s environmental protection division, said the amount of pollutants discharged into inshore areas will not be significantly reduced in the near future, Xinhua reported.
Meanwhile, organic pollutants, which are not biodegradable, will increase, Qu said.
The report said that inshore areas in Shanghai, Zhejiang, Liaoning, Tianjin and Jiangsu are seriously polluted.
In addition, inorganic nitrogen, phosphate, hydrargyrum and cadmium are major threats to inshore areas, the report said.
In 2000, a total of 28 red tides occurred in the country’s marine areas, covering around 10,000 square km.
Song Xuejia, an oceanic administration official, said the southeastern coast, including Fujian and Guangdong, are most likely to be hit by disastrous tidal waves this year. He also said that at least one such surge might hit Bohai Bay.
Song said 34 tidal waves are expected to hit the country this year, more than in any one year in the past several years. Most of them will occur in the South China Sea, the East China Sea and the Taiwan Straits, said the official.
Another administration spokesman said the coastal sea level in 2000 was 51 millimeters higher than in average years.
Southern oceanic areas witnessed a rapid rise in sea level, while northern areas had a comparatively low increase rate, said Chen Shibiao.
Chen said that the general sea level would continue to rise until 2003, with the levels of the South China Sea and the Yellow Sea rising the fastest, followed by the East China Sea and the Taiwan Straits.
The report says that the sea level increased by an annual rate of one to three millimeters in the last five decades.
According to scientific estimates, by the end of 2100, the global sea level will be between 18 and 88 centimeters higher, which might make many coastal cities lower than the sea level.
One-half of the world’s population are living in areas within 50 km of the ocean.
The report said that the rapid change in sea level would affect the living conditions of human beings.
(eastday.com 04/02/2001)
