16.1% of China’s soil and 19.4% of its agricultural land is polluted, according to an official report by the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) and the Ministry of Land and Resources. The quality of farmland was worrying and deserted industrial and mining land suffered serious pollution. The report was based on a survey conducted between April 2005 and last December on about 630 square kilometers of land. The authorities had previously kept under wraps the data collected in the survey, saying the information was a state secret. The main source of pollution was “human industrial and agricultural activities,” the report said. Industrial waste contaminated land around factories and mines. Irrigation by polluted water, the improper use of fertilizers and pesticides, and the development of livestock breeding was polluting farmland. “Compared with air and water pollution, soil pollution is more difficult to control and remedy, taking a much longer time and needing more resources,” Chen Tongbin, Chinese Academy of Sciences Research Fellow, said. While affecting the normal growth of plants and microbes and damaging the soil’s ability to preserve nutrients, pollutants were likely to permeate underground and contaminate water sources. A breakdown of the figures showed that 11.2% of the surveyed land suffers slight pollution, while 1.1% is severely polluted. Some 10% of woodland and 10.4% of grassland is polluted. About 82.8% of the polluted land is contaminated by inorganic materials, with the top three culprits being carcinogens cadmium, nickel and arsenic. Compared with survey results between 1986 and 1990, there had been a notable increase in inorganic pollutants. Levels of cadmium pollution, for instance, rose by 50% in southwest and coastal regions and up to 40% in other areas. The southern part of China suffers heavier soil pollution than the north, while pollution is severe in three major industrial zones – the Yangtze River Delta in east China, the Pearl River Delta in south China and the former heavy industrial hub in the northeast. A statement released with the report said China would “uncompromisingly wage a war against land pollution.” Experts warned that the study might not give an accurate picture and have called for more detailed analysis of the extent of soil pollution. An Environmental Protection Ministry Spokesman said it was impossible to determine the exact amount of land polluted because they took only one sample in every 6,400 hectares of farmland.

Chinese scientists have developed soil remediation technologies to prepare for large-scale application. The technologies focus on using plants to absorb heavy metal contaminants in soil. The technologies were developed by the Center for Environmental Remediation of the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Resources Research under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), which began research 10 years ago. Soil contamination is serious in China, with large areas of cropland polluted, said Lei Mei, Professor at the Center. Soil remediation technologies have been applied on 133 hectares of land in Guangxi, Henan, Yunnan, Hunan and Beijing on a trial basis, and Lei said she believes the technologies will have “good application prospects”. In 2005, scientists from the Center proved in the laboratory that the plant Pteris vittata, or Chinese brake fern, had cleansing abilities when planted in soil polluted by heavy metals such as lead, zinc, sulfur and arsenic. After the fern becomes saturated with heavy metals from the polluted soil, the aboveground part of the plant is cut off and burned. A new shoot grows from the root, and the process is repeated. Field experiments since 2010 on 60 hectares of polluted land in Hechi, in Guangxi, showed the plant can reduce the amount of heavy metals by 10% a year, which means it can help reduce pollutants to safe levels within three to five years. The Chinese brake fern is grown in the same fields as cash crops such as flax. Meanwhile, scientists are developing a new passivator, which is a coat with an oxide layer that protects against contamination of the soil by cadmium, lead, copper and zinc, the China Daily reports.

Beijing is planning to pipe in desalinated water from the port of Caofeidian in Hebei province to meet increased demand. Under the desalination project, one million metric tons of drinking water a day will be produced from the nearby Bohai Bay. Supplies are expected to satisfy one-third of demand in 2019. The project is expected to be approved by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) next year after passing a review. Construction of a related factory and pipelines will take two to three years. Investment in the project may reach CNY17 billion. The desalination project will feature a combination of heating and reverse osmosis techniques to process the water. A pilot desalination project in Caofeidian produces water that meets 108 quality indicators, and tastes just like regular tap water. Water produced under the pilot project costs about CNY6 a ton, rising to CNY8 to deliver it to Beijing. The water price is a little higher than the current daily domestic charge of about CNY4 a ton. Experts believe that, faced with increasing demand for water, Beijing must expand supply through multiple channels and raise water prices appropriately. The Beijing Development and Reform Commission said current pricing does not reflect the shortage of water resources. The city needs a new pricing system, under which charges rise according to the amount of water consumed, to encourage rational use, the Commission said.

China’s air pollution could be intensifying storms over the Pacific ocean and altering weather patterns in North America, according to scientists in the U.S. A team from Texas, California and Washington State has found that pollution from Asia, much of which arising in China, is leading to more intense cyclones, increased precipitation and more warm air in the mid-Pacific moving towards the north pole. According to the team’s findings, which were released in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, these changes could ultimately contribute to erratic weather in the U.S. The authors used advanced computer models to study interactions between clouds and fine, airborne particles known as aerosols, particularly man-made ones, such as those emitted from vehicles and coal-fired power plants. “Our work provides, for the first time to the authors’ knowledge, a global multi-scale perspective of the climatic effects of pollution outflows from Asia,” says the study’s abstract. Of 74 Chinese cities monitored by the central government, 71 failed to meet air quality standards, the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) said in March.

Hebei is intensifying efforts to combat air pollution by joining with Beijing and Tianjin to set up a laboratory so it can release accurate early warnings and find fundamental solutions for smog in the province. For decades Hebei has negatively influenced Beijing’s weather as it is itself heavily polluted. In 2013, residents in Shijiazhuang, the capital city of Hebei province, experienced 151 days of air pollution exceeding the hazardous level. All 11 cities of the province counted only 129 days last year during which air quality was considered good, according to a report by the Department of Environmental Protection of Hebei. In response to the lingering smog, the province has moved in the past year to reduce the emission of air pollutants by shutting down hundreds of high-polluting factories and by reducing outdated capacity in major industries such as steel, coal power and cement production. Guo Bin, Professor of Environmental Protection Research at Hebei University of Science and Technology, said the current lack of systematic and targeted research has failed to give a thorough picture of the smog situation. The laboratory, which will bring together experts and advanced technology in environmental protection, will focus on researching the sources of pollutants and the means by which they spread in Hebei. The lab will start working in 2015 and later add monitoring stations near Beijing and Tianjin. There are now 64 monitoring air quality sites in surrounding areas of Beijing and Shijiazhuang which can accurately predict smog 24 hours before it appears, the China Daily reports.