- Green Wall of China
The Green Wall of China, also known as the Green Great Wall or Great Green Wall ( _zh. 绿色长城), will be a series of human-planted forest strips in the
People's Republic of China , designed to hold back theGobi Desert . [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/monitoring/media_reports/1199218.stm BBC News | MEDIA REPORTS | China's Great Green Wall] ] It is planned to be completed around 2074, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/monitoring/media_reports/1199218.stm BBC News | MEDIA REPORTS | China's Great Green Wall] ] at which point it is planned to be convert|2800|mi|km long.Effects of the Gobi Desert
China has seen 3,600
km 2 (1,390 miles2) ofgrassland overtaken every year by the Gobi Desert. This loss of farmland has caused an estimated $50 billion in losses each year for China's economy. [http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/000252.html WorldChanging: The Fall of the Green Wall of China] retrieved March 19, 2007]Dust storms , which were once a rarity, are springing up all over China, and could cause even further damage to China'sagriculture economy.Interruptions
Land erosion and over-farming have halted planting in many areas of the project. China's booming
pollution rate has also weakened thesoil , causing it to be unusable. [http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/000252.html WorldChanging: The Fall of the Green Wall of China] retrieved March 19, 2007]Corruption and lack of funds have also halted the plan. China's economy, unstable as it is, has yet to become stable enough to fund this operation.
Also, most of the trees planted in the green wall die off, due to drought. It is estimated that up to 75% of the trees die, hereby being one of the main reasons why the project is not introducing substantial change. If the percentage of money spend on the lost trees were to be used more efficiently (eg. by planting trees in other locations through the
Flexible Mechanisms -system under theKyoto protocol ), much more environmental advantage could have been obtained.See also
*
Macro-engineering
*Desertification References
External links
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/monitoring/media_reports/1199218.stm China's Great Green Wall]
* [http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-07/09/content_4810897.htm China's forest shelter project dubbed "green Great Wall"]
* [http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-07/09/content_4809966.htm Grassland ecology to curb sandstorms]
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