In a message dated 3/29/00 11:34:23 PM Central Standard Time,
ml@justintime.com writes:
> While the WSJ article didn't mention it, I've also been reading
> (articles in New Scientist, again, I can't find URLs) and hearing (from
> people who have visited China recently) that atmospheric pollution is
> becoming a major agricultural problem. Supposedly smog is dense and
> pervasive even in the countryside to the extent that crops are
> suffering from decreased sunlight. One striking passage claimed that
> in Shenyang (I believe the largest Chinese city north of Beijing, in
> China's northeastern "rust belt") snow is black before it hits the
> ground due to atmospheric coal dust.
When I was there many (many, many) years ago, the sun "set" quite a few
degrees above the horizon, settling into what appeared to be a permanent
level of coal smog that hovered over the ground. The Chinese economy has
grown quite a bit since then, and I don't imagine they're doing any better
now in keeping their air clean.
Greg Burch <GBurch1@aol.com>----<gburch@lockeliddell.com>
Attorney ::: Vice President, Extropy Institute ::: Wilderness Guide
http://users.aol.com/gburch1 -or- http://members.aol.com/gburch1
ICQ # 61112550
"We never stop investigating. We are never satisfied that we know
enough to get by. Every question we answer leads on to another
question. This has become the greatest survival trick of our species."
-- Desmond Morris
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