Latest comments posted about Disaster in Taihu Lake on ChinaDialogue en-gb http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/1082-Disaster-in-Taihu-Lake http://staging.chinadialogue.net/images/cdlogo.gif http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/1082-Disaster-in-Taihu-Lake The current algae bloom happened at Taihu Lake means that over the past 20 years, the government effort in controlling pollution at Taihu Lake has failed. Primitive algae species has defeated the 21st Century ‘Super Power’, what is the reason? There are complicated and complex reasons, the ‘Three laws of inertia for China Environment Crisis’ has pointed out all these are related to the chaos caused by unrealistic information; the trend of government corruption; to be more precise, it is due to lack of democratic functional system to provide ‘key information’, and ‘encouraging public to clean up corruption’. Thu, 05 Jul 2007 10:44:32 -0400 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1082#comment-3958 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1082#comment-3958 For the past few decades,China developed very fast, but the majority of people did not care about its effect on the ecology, factories poured much waste water and gas into the environment. the balance of nature has been damaged,many disasters has spawned up. for example,floods,drought,sand storms and the greenhouse effect. all the weather phenomena indicate that the problems are on a large scale.as this planet is the only place we can live,we have to guard the earth.it seems to be unrealistic to solve the problem in personal ways,there are no alternatives,oniy by the global cooperation can we change the situation. it is easier to damage than to protect,but we have to do the work however it will cost,we can begin with stopping making thing worse,that is the least we can do. Sat, 23 Jun 2007 14:18:37 -0400 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1082#comment-3905 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1082#comment-3905 Due to the insatiable nature of human beings, Mother Nature finally has warned us. Eventually, the revenge will be engraved on our hearts and bones. Fri, 15 Jun 2007 13:48:21 -0400 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1082#comment-3873 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1082#comment-3873 Environmental officials from Taihu Lake district said, at those economic development area, foreign companies do not just benefit from economic policies, and also enjoy inequality in term of competition. Those medium sized companies are paying for charges for disposing pollutants even though they have yet to meet the pollution targets that have been set, however, foreign companies can be excused or paying less on these charges. It is due to foreign companies is the focal point in attracting investment funds. In addition, they will also resolve the local employment issue and encourage economic growth. I say: Are they needed for current benefits at the expense of destroying our homes? The counterpart says: If you don’t grant any preferences and the city nearby offer more favourable conditions, they would definitely win the investment funds. God! In fact, it’s never short of funding and economic growth in this area is always stable, is it worth to work so hard to attract more investment funds? The counterpart says: More investment fund will enhance the economic growth, and increase GDP; this will also reflect leaders’ achievement. I question: Isn’t it destroying the homes of common people and interests of their next generation? They answer: They don’t care and pollution will never cause any impact to them. As such, the crucial point is, GDP is set as the standard to evaluate achievement of government officials. The reality proves that, in a country with a political system like that of China, it will leave as a legacy of trouble. Tue, 12 Jun 2007 03:00:19 -0400 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1082#comment-3849 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1082#comment-3849 Incident that happened to Taihu Lake recall my memory on the Dianchi Lake in Yunnan, in the past 4-5 years, small skill manufacturing plant by the river and imperfect sewage treatment system caused imbalance of the whole ecosystem in Dianchi Lake, which leading to blue-algae bloom, stinking water, seems like dyeing with colour. In recent year, central and local government has been funding to control the incident; however, the funding and results are usually not parallel. Nowadays, Taihu Lake appears to be another example, how many lakes will be polluted in near future? Thu, 14 Jun 2007 04:31:29 -0400 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1082#comment-3862 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1082#comment-3862 A healthy lake ecosystem should look clear and transparent, diverse in aquatic plants; this is what we called as clear condition. However, once catastrophe occurs, it will cause algae bloom, the water condition become cloudy, which is the clouding condition. Both of these conditions are stable, if to reverse the clouding condition, by reducing the nutritive salt to the lowest level and rebuilt aquatic plants, it will takes a long period, Taihu has been under such clouding situation, which has yet effectively reduce the concentration of nutritive salt to the lowest level. For instance, in 1947 the occurrence of algae bloom at Lake Apopka in America, in which government also participate to carry out the study, it has been taken 40 years long, however, the actual engineering work to control the situation just happened in recent 20 years.Within these 60 years, although huge funding has been allocated by government to tackle the issue, eventually the water quality has been improved; but the rebuilt aquatic plant can only survive by the littoral. It is still lots of efforts in order to fully recover the condition. Nowadays, Taihu has followed the path of Lake Apopka. Never too old to learn, never too late to turn. Hope that the local government would take effective action for remedy, return Taihu a clear environment, to avoid next generation continuously living in situation overflowed by blue-algae. Mon, 11 Jun 2007 14:17:11 -0400 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1082#comment-3847 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1082#comment-3847 If China does not change the perception for the relationship between the environment and its economic growth, maybe in less than 20 years, the country will run into a natural catastrophe, from when more disasters will be expected. Sincerely hope that the Taihu Lake Incident can prompt us to carry out a continuing discussion nationwide. It is such a pity that our generation does not care about the children’s future at all. Tue, 12 Jun 2007 11:10:59 -0400 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1082#comment-3854 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1082#comment-3854 I post a comment yesterday, but the webmaster didn't approve it. What I want to say is that I want to tell Mr. Ma Jun nature gives us only a warning, not a severe retorsion. Li Rusi Tue, 12 Jun 2007 03:26:45 -0400 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1082#comment-3850 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1082#comment-3850 Protect Taihu lake's waters, preserve the lake's beauty! Sun, 10 Jun 2007 11:26:57 -0400 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1082#comment-3843 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1082#comment-3843 Man's social development has led to a prominent problem -- the environment. Protecting the environment and sustainable development are now part of national strategy. It should be a basic human right and serve as a foundation to environmental legislation. Some nations have already enacted the right of residents to public environment into law and are protecting that right. Although China has environmental laws and protective measures, there is no legislation to recognize residents' rights to the environment. Under the current legal framework, residents are not accorded proper compensation, even in cases where compensation is given, it is far from enough to make up for the losses incurred, it is also ad hoc and hobbled by "rule by man" realities. This article is a systematic analysis of the concept of "right to environment", explores the acts that infringe on such rights and methods of redress, it is likely to aid China's residents in seeking legal redress from breaches of their environmental rights. Sun, 10 Jun 2007 10:51:16 -0400 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1082#comment-3842 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1082#comment-3842