Chinas Industrial impact on the East China Sea and the Yellow

Sea Lulas Vollmer, Mulyadi Abdul Wahid,Julius Lensch

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China had a population of 1,3 billion people in 2008.

The highest population density is located at the eastern coast with about 400 people per km².

Most industries are located in coastal regions because of the connection to shipping lanes, the labor supply and the existence of free trade zones.

Fig. 2) The distribution of different industries in China (http://www.lib.utexas.edu).

Fig.1)Coast of Shanghai. (www.foreignpolicydigest.org)

III. The Yanktze: The Link from the Land to the SeaThe biggest source of pollution is the sewage that is transported by the Yangtze, the biggest river of China. The agriculture, the heavy industry and especially the mining industry are discharging contaminated water in the river. The Yangtze River basin receives 45% of the total industrial effluent of China and 37.5% of the municipal sewage (Daoji et al. ).

Fig. 3) Sevage from chemical industry flowing into the Yangtzektse and industrial zone of Nanjin, located at the Yangtze River. (www.chinadaily.com.cn)

Sediments from the Yanktze are important for the stabilization of the coastal ecosystem. They balance the erosion of the estuary by the sea. About 48000 water reservoirs that where built in the last decades reduced the sediment transport significantly (Fig. 5). The influence of the Three Gorges Dam on sediment transport is not investigated yet.

Persistent organic carbons, mostly from former use of pesticides in the agriculture, decreased in the Yangtze sediment in the last few decades, but are still accumulated in the marine food chain.

Nutrients are a big problem for the Yangtze River and the ECS. The nitrogen and phosphorus that comes eminently from the use of fertilizers in the agriculture impact the sea in a range of up to 200 km.

Solid waste like material from dredging of harbors and rivers are contaminated with heavy metals and persistent organic carbons. In 2001 about 36,44 million m³ solid waste was dumped in the ECS, 73,2% of this volume at the sea area of Shanghai. (Daoji et al. )

Spezialbereiche der Ozeanographie I - Wintersemester 2010/2011

III. Types of PollutionI. The Coast as an Area of Industrialization

II. The Chinese Industry and Agriculture

China is the worlds biggest producer of coal, steal and cement. The major part of electricity is produced by coal-burning power plants. Therefore China is also the top CO2 emitter in the world.

The manufacturing industries like the textile- and electronic industries also play a very important role and belong to the biggest of the world.

Chinas agriculture manly resides in the Yangtze Basin. Hence pesticides and fertilizer are transported to the sea.

Fig. 4) The Three Gorges Dam (www.ctgpc.com.cn)

Fig. 5) Sediment transport and runoff of the Yangtze River (Daoji et al.)

Fig. 6) Sediment transport in the ECS (http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/)

IV. Ecological ProblemsThe most visible response of the ecosystem to eutrophication and increasing SST is an frequent occurence of harmful algal blooms (HAB), also know as “red tides“ (Fig. 7). HABs cause human health problems and affect fisheries resources and aquacultural operations resulting in direct economic losses.

Diseases are causing problems for a fishery industry producing 4% of the world fish production. Faecal Escherichia coli found in shellfish was exceeding the national biological standard by 1.5 to 8 times in some coastal areas. Aside by pollution overfishing is also a major concern for the marine population(Fig. 8).

Accidental oil spills and careless release of balast water from oil tankers are problems especcially in estuaries. Pollutant residuaries from these sources are found in commercially produced mussels and oysters.

Fig. 7) occurrence and area covered by HABs (UNEP-GIWA 2006a).

Fig. 8) Development of stocks of fish species in the East China Sea (Heilemann and Tang, 2009)

The major part of the Chinese population lives in the coastal regions and in the basins of the big rivers Yanktze and Yellow River. In the course of industrialization, massive population growth and migration the coastal regions face environmental stress. Pollution from

sewage and sedimentation influence the marine ecosystem, which is derogating local fishing industries and the living conditions of the people.