China Choking on their own growth.

I'm traveling right now but wanted to post a link to NYTimes' "Choking on Growth" series. It's well worth a read (it's not the best written article I've seen - it repeats itself a lot, but the facts make a good story). The author of "The River Runs Black: The Environmental Challenge to China's Future" will be online chatting today on the NYTimes' site.

Three facinating stats before I go:

In 2005 alone, China added 66 gigawatts of electricity to its power grid, about as much power as Britain generates in a year. Last year, it added an additional 102 gigawatts, as much as France.

and

Only 1 percent of the country's 560 million city dwellers breathe air considered safe by the European Union.

and

China's environmental monitors say that one-third of all river water, and vast sections of China's great lakes, the Tai, Chao and Dianchi, have water rated Grade V, the most degraded level, rendering it unfit for industrial or agricultural use.

Now, we've got problems in the US of A but when a third of your water it unfit even for industiral or ag use, you've got huge problems. I would guess that most of that water is unfit for use due to heavy metals which is a big problem over there, food wise. Our water pollution may be turning male fish into females but at we can still use it for something!