Yangtze! Yangtze! Named one of the best books about water

(May 28, 2010) In a recent interview, Johnny Grimond, a writer-at-large for The Economist said Dai Qing’s “Yangtze! Yangtze!” was one of the best books about water. Mr. Grimond said that Ms. Dai “has written courageously about China’s dams and rivers.”

Nile countries continue fight over water

(May 26, 2010) The countries that share the Nile River basin – Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo – are tired of Egypt, and to a lesser extent Sudan, dictating the terms of the river water’s usage. The upriver countries recently signed a water-sharing agreement more favourable to their interests that then created a diplomatic standoff with Egypt.

Lord Monckton wins global warming debate at Oxford Union

(May 25, 2010) For what is believed to be the first time ever in England, an audience of university undergraduates has decisively rejected the notion that “global warming” is or could become a global crisis. The only previous defeat for climate extremism among an undergraduate audience was at St. Andrew’s University, Scotland, in the spring of 2009, when the climate extremists were defeated by three votes.

Can the South-North water diversion project save North China?

(May 18, 2010) Falling water tables in North China resulted in the creation of the world’s largest subsidence funnel. According to an official report, overexploitation of groundwater in the past 50 years, amounting to 120 billion cubic meters of water and equivalent to 200 Lake Baiyangdians in Hebei Province, has led to the creation of the funnel in North China—Hebei, Beijing and Tianjin included.

Chemical reactions on the Yangtze

(May 17, 2010) In the rolling hills alongside the Three Gorges reservoir, on a Tiananmen Square-sized plot of land, stands a sign marking the site of an “Integrated MDI Project” in the village of Baishi. On completion, this will be home to the world’s largest Methylene diphenyl diisocyanate plant and the villagers all know that German chemical giant BASF is on the way.