Yellow (Huang He) River

"The Yellow River is the second longest river in China, the main river in north China, and the cradle of Chinese civilization as the Nile is cradle of Egyptian civilization. It originates in on Tibet-Qinghai plateau — like the Yangtze, China's largest river, and the Mekong River — and gets nearly 45 percent of its water from glaciers and vast underground springs of the Tibetan Plateau . . . The Yellow River is a vital to making northern China inhabitable. It supplies water to 155 million people, or 12 percent of the Chinese population, and irrigates 18 million acres — 15 percent of China's farmland. More than 400 million people live in the Yellow River basin." The river is also home to 800 aquatic species and many rare birds such as the red-crowned eagle and golden eagle. Despite its importance, the Yellow River is severely threatened. "Sometimes called the "River of Sorrow," the Yellow River is one of the world's most dangerous and destructive rivers. Since historians began keeping records in 602 [BCE], the river has changed course 26 times and produced 1,500 floods that have killed millions of people. The root of these disasters is the large amount of silt generated by soil erosion . . . The Yellow River has dried up more than 30 times since 1972, when it ran dry for the first time in recorded history . . . The Yellow River's problems begin at its source where droughts in the Tibetan plateau have reduced the amount of water flowing to the river. But the main reason the river runs dry is because between 80 to 90 percent of its water had been taken upstream for urban areas, industry and agriculture. Decline of water caused by global warming and the melting of Tibetan glaciers could make the situation worse . . . Agriculture swallows up 65 percent of the Yellow River's water, with more than half lost to leaky pipes and ditches, with rest swallowed up by industry and cities. Twenty major dams punctuate the Yellow River and another 18 are scheduled to be built by 2030. Dams are particularly damaging on the Yellow River because they exacerbate silting and pollution. The reduced flow cause by dams causing silt to settle and prevents the flushing out if pollutants . . . The Yellow River travels through major industrial areas, China's major coal producing region and huge population centers. By one count 4,000 of China's 20,000 petrochemical factories are on the Yellow River and a third of all fish species found in the Yellow River have become extinct because of dams, falling water levels, pollution and over fishing . . . Around 50 percent of the river has been designated as biologically dead."