Spotlight: The Mekong River

Pick a river at random and you will read a similar story to the one that appeared in today's Independent. http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?story=513488

Exceprt: Once, the world's rivers teemed with fish. No longer. Around the globe, dams and other river engineering projects have drastically reduced most inland fisheries. But on one mighty river, the Mekong in South-east Asia, half a century of warfare had kept the dam-builders away. As a result, even the poorest people in countries such as Cambodia can still dine regularly on wild river fish. But now the engineers have moved on to the river, and the effects are already being felt. Scientists blame new Chinese hydroelectric dams for the record low levels of the river this spring, for weird fluctuations in river flows, and above all for a collapse in fish catches. Is this the end for one of the world's last great untamed rivers?

One can only hope so. Today we salute the Chinese planners and engineers responsible for the dams. We at the CHL sincerely appreciate your volunteer efforts for our cause.

- nostradamusfunkadelic, 10:40 AM | |