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1、CHAPTER5ChinaandWaterPeterH.GleickTheremarkablegrowthinChina’spopulationandeconomyoverthepastseveraldecadeshascomeatatremendouscosttothecountry’senvironment.Chinahasexpe-riencedaneconomicgrowthrateaveraging10percentperyearformorethan20years.Butsustainedgrowthandthehealthofthec
2、ountryareincreasinglythreatenedbyenvironmentaldeteriorationandconstraints,particularlyaroundwater.Wateriscriticalforeconomicgrowthandwell-being;conversely,economicactivitieshaveanimpactonwateravailabilityandquality.Whenwaterresourcesarelimitedorcontam-inated,orwhereeconomicact
3、ivityisunconstrainedandinadequatelyregulated,serioussocialproblemscanarise.AndinChina,thesefactorshavecometogetherinawaythatisleadingtomoresevereandcomplexwaterchallengesthaninalmostanyotherplaceontheplanet.China’swaterresourcesareoverallocated,inefficientlyused,andgrosslypoll
4、utedbyhumanandindustrialwastes,tothepointthatvaststretchesofriversaredeadanddying,lakesarecesspoolsofwaste,groundwateraquifersareover-pumpedandunsus-tainablyconsumed,uncountedspeciesofaquaticlifehavebeendriventoextinction,anddirectadverseimpactsonbothhumanandecosystemhealthare
5、widespreadandgrowing.Figure5.1showsthemajorriversofChina.Ofthe20mostseriouslypollutedcitiesintheworld,16areinChina.Themajorwatershedsofthecountryallsufferseverepollution.Threehundredmillionpeoplelackaccesstosafedrinkingwater.Desertification,worsenedbyexcessivewithdrawalsofsurf
6、aceandgroundwater,isgrowinginnorthernChina(Feng2007).Theseproblemsarethreateningtosloweconomicexpansionandweakenpoliticalstabilityinavarietyofways.Significantoutbreaksofillness,includingcancers,arebeingreportedinheavilypollutedregions,drivinguphealthcarecostsandpublicconcern.C
7、ompaniesarecancelingbusinessventuresbecauseofwaterconcerns.Thereisgrowinginternaldissentandconflictoverbothwaterallocationandwaterquality,raisingnewpoliticalpressuresonthecentralandregionalgovernmentstocometogripswithwaterproblems.In2005,theChinesegovernmentacknowledgedthat50,0
8、00environmentallyrelatedprotestsoccurredthatyear,manyofwhichw
