Climate change and major water conservation projects are a major risk to the long-term "health" of the Yangtze River, claimed a report released over the weekend.

The Yangtze Conservation and Development Report 2009, compiled by the China Academy of Science (CAS), states the basin of China's longest waterway has been hit by a yearly reduction in rain since 2006. The reduction has been brought on by global warming.

Annual rainfall dropped 10.3 and 6.9 percent respectively in 2006 and 2007, the report said. Severe droughts in 2007 and last year resulted in the shrinking of two of the nation's biggest freshwater lakes, Poyang and Dongting.

The research also estimated that by 2030 the glacial area at the source of the Yangtze River will be reduced by 6.9 percent from the level recorded in 1970.

"Long-term observation and multi-disciplinary studies on possible impacts are needed to better understand what climate change will do to the river," said Yang Guishan, a CAS researcher and an author of the report.

The massive Three Gorges¹ Dam project is also damaging the overall water quality, ecosystems² of the wetlands and fish stock said the report.

The research showed that with a hike in the concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus, the water quality in reservoir areas of the Three Gorges Dam has deteriorated³ since it began water storing in 2003.

An increase in outbreaks of algae⁴ caused by excessive nutrients⁵ in the water has also been found in the reservoirs, said the report. Also, the Three Gorges Dam and other conservation projects are disrupting migration⁶ routes for fish and changing the ecology of fish spawning⁷ sites in the Yangtze River.

The report found a steady fall in the number of black carp, grass carp, silver carp and crucian carp since 2003.

Questions:

1. What has brought on the Yangtze River’s basin water reduction?

2. What are two of China’s biggest freshwater lakes?

3. What has affected⁸ the water quality in reservoir areas of the Three Gorges Dam?

Answers:

1. Global warming.

2. Poyang and Dongting.

3. A hike in the concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus.