About 3,33 million hectares. It is the amount of agricultural land in China that is too polluted to be cultivated, due to heavy metals and other chemicals that have made it unusable for producing food.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
About 3,33 million hectares. It is the amount of agricultural land in China too polluted to be cultivated, due to heavy metals and other chemicals that have made it unsuitable for food production.
Lo he said a government official, Wang Shiyuan, highlighting a problem, that of earth pollution, which so far has remained obscured by the alarm about excessive smog and water contamination.
But terrestrial pollution is becoming more and more widespread and is gaining the attention of public opinion and the mass media, also due to the recent food scandals (just think of the discovery of rice contaminated with high levels of cadmium sold in the metropolis of Guangzhou). The area affected by this problem represents about 2 percent of the entire Chinese arable land, but, according to some scientists, government estimates are too optimistic.
In fact, the number of lands that can no longer be cultivated would be much higher. There is even talk of a fifth of the total. How did it come about? Easy to understand, if you think about the explosive growth of Chinese industry, the excessive use of agricultural chemicals and practically non-existent environmental protection measures. All this has left the countryside contaminated by lead, cadmium, pesticides and other toxins that are dangerous to the environment, animals and humans.
Wang, however, reassures (although providing no specific details): the government is working on a long-term plan and plans to spend several tens of billions of yuan for remediation. One possible approach could be to plant trees or other vegetation to absorb heavy metals from the soil. If it fails to do so, in any case, not only will the environmental catastrophe get worse, but China will no longer be able to guarantee enough food for its ever-growing population.
Roberta Ragni
READ also:
China: the "cancer villages" really exist. The government admits it
China: houses built on land contaminated with dangerous pollutants
China: death penalty for polluters
