Owing to sandstorms and rapid population growth, the surface of
Ebinur Lake, the largest salt lake in northwest China’s
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has shrunk to 530 square km
in the past five decades.
Formed in the Quaterary Period, Ebinur Lake has gradually been
turned from a fresh water lake into a salt one. Its water surface
was 1,200 square km in the early 1950s, only one third of its
original size.
As
a result, the number of 117 rare plants and animals living in and
around the lake have reduced considerably. Antelope, red deer, swan
and other rare species have become extinct in the region.
Statistics show that the wind blows an estimated 4.8 million tons
of dust and sand away from the region annually. The No. 312
national highway, which is adjacent to Ebinur Lake, has to alter
the route as part of the original road has been buried by sand. The
Euro-Asia Continental Railway Bridge suspended operation on several
occasions for the same reason.
To
prevent the lake from shrinking slowly, the regional government has
taken a series of measures including planting trees and grass
around the lake and setting up a nature preserve in the region.
(Xinhua News
Agency 09/04/2001)