Yellow River Blues

The sixth longest in the world, the Yellow River and its basin have been associated with China’s prosperity for thousands of years. In recent decades, rapid economic development has increased the river's pollution and sediment levels, posing major challenges in managing its water for agriculture, industry, power generation and domestic uses. A new study cautions that climate change can reduce the volume of water, adding pressure on all sectors to share water more efficiently and carefully. The same imperative of integrated river basin management applies to other river basins across China and Mongolia in North East Asia.

This film captures the highlights of a 2008 study, Vulnerability Assessment of Freshwater Resources to Environmental Change, carried out by researchers in China and Mongolia for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).