Record amounts of waste dumped in China's Yangtze River

BEIJING (AFP) - A record 30.5 billion tonnes of industrial, farming and human waste were dumped last year into China's Yangtze River, the country's longest, state media reported.

The quantity was twice as much as two decades ago and an increase of 900 million tonnes, or 3.1 percent, from the previous year, Xinhua news agency said late Tuesday.
 
The widespread dumping of industrial, agricultural and domestic waste has seriously polluted the Yangtze, a situation some ecologists warn will be worsened by the massive Three Gorges dam, which they say will create a "giant toilet bowl" of trapped sewage behind it.

A joint Swiss-Chinese report said earlier this month that Yangtze pollution was "enormous" but added the ecological damage could be reversed if the government took aggressive steps.

 
Numerous unique species have been driven to the brink of extinction in the river, including the white-fin dolphin and Yangtze river sturgeon.