One Third of China Affected by Acid Rain

What is Acid Rain?

One Third of China is being affected by acid rain, and the government of China continues to fail in reducing the pollutants. Not only are their natural water ways being polluted, now what is some would consider their only other clean fresh water source is also polluted

One-Third of China Hurt by Acid Rain
BEIJING -- One-third of China's vast landmass is suffering from acid rain caused by its rapid industrial growth, while local leaders are failing to enforce environmental standards for fear of hurting business, said officials quoted Sunday by state media.

China's factories spewed out 25.5 million tons of sulphur dioxide -- the chemical that causes acid rain -- last year, up 27 percent from 2000, said Sheng Huaren, deputy chairman of the Standing Committee of parliament.

Chinese cities are among the world's smoggiest following two decades of breakneck economic growth. The government says all of China's major rivers are dangerously polluted. Millions of people lack access to clean drinking water.

On Sunday, local officials said a tanker carrying 25 tons of caustic soda had fallen Friday into the Xuefeng River in China's northwest, poisoning a drinking water source for 100,000 people.

One person was killed in the accident, Xinhua said. Officials said the water quality had returned to normal by Sunday after the government dumped 10 tons of hydrochloric acid into the water to neutralize the caustic soda, also known as sodium hydroxide

Other Sources:
Acid rain affects one third of China: report

China fails to cut main pollutants -government

Ahhh, isnt industrialization wonderful? China really needs to wake up and stop this before its too late, as they have a huge population and cant afford the loss of resources, especially since they lack infrastructure to deal with the problems.