Oct. 7, 2001 — More than 2,000 lakes that nurture the source of China’s Yellow River are disappearing and causing water shortages, reports the state-run Xinhua news agency. Over half the ground rivers and lakes in Madoi – the county closest to the river source in the western province of Qinghai – have dried up, harming local grazing and shrinking 30 percent of the county’s grasslands. Dubbed "China’s Sorrow" for its disastrous floods over the centuries, China’s second-longest river is dying as a result of excessive water use, pollution, and global warming, reports Xinhua. This summer’s drought deprived local livestock of sufficient food and dried up more than 120 drinking water sources in Madoi – once known as "a county of thousands of lakes." This winter, 70 percent of Madoi’s estimated 10,000 herdsmen will be forced to rent rangelands elsewhere to feed their flocks and herds.