The constant stream of news coverage on China’s water crisis hasn’t dampened Beijing’s bid to host the 2022 winter Olympics and the production of a key, water-guzzling component of that bid: snow. The Economist reports.
Ski resorts gulp Beijing’s water supplies
(April 29, 2011) In a new report published by the Beijing-based Friends of Nature and Canadian environmental group Probe International, Chinese environmental researcher, Hu Kanping, documents the impact of ski resorts on drought-stricken Beijing.
Beijing’s Ski Slopes as Thirsty as 8,300 Households
(April 21, 2011) Beijing badly lacks water, but much of the available supply is slurped up by luxury apartments and bottling plants. Friends of Nature researchers have recently drawn attention to the additional drain of the million tons a year pumped into artificial snow machines at 17 skiing facilities around the city.