Pollution: Polluting industries, such this cement factory along the Wu Gorge, are being phased out as part of plans to protect the environment in the Three Gorges reservoir area. But local environmentalists fear that such efforts could be negated by pollution from cities further upstream, including Chongqing, a sprawling city of 30 million seen as the key economic engine of western China. The Yangtze is among the world's top 10 rivers at risk, according to the World Wildlife Fund. It is estimated that the river has seen a 73 per cent increase in pollution over the last 50 years. The WWF added that the annual discharge of sewage and industrial waste in the Yangtze had reached about 25 billion tonnes, accounting for 40 per cent of China's total sewage discharge and 45 per cent of its total industrial discharge. The cleanup along the Three Gorges reservoir area is complicated by the fact that the dam impounds the polluted water, traps sediment, and speeds up the accumulation of chemical nutrients that can cause algae blooms. [Nov 07 2008]
