How Does The Yangtze River Influence The Cultural Function Of China?

For generations, the Yangtze River has played an undeniably significant role in the cultural function of China. Throughout China’s history, and even in modern days, the Yangtze yields a source of power for human necessities such as irrigation, transportation, commerce, and water supply. Its functional purposes have allowed life along its banks to be sustainable. The Yangtze’s existence captures the history and heritage of early China. In recent years, however, the implication of the river’s importance has been magnified. With the rapid rates of industrial development, the Yangtze River has been struggling to keep up with the current of China’s pollution. Over the past thirty years, the river has felt the consequences of China’s over-populated

The website, wwf.panda.org, states, “The major pollutants in the Yangtze mainstem are suspended substances, oxidizing organic and inorganic compounds, and ammonia nitrogen”. Suspended substances in the river are solid compounds or minerals that are relatively insoluble. These materials are products of either erosion or waste and are unable to dissolve in water. This type of contamination is what makes the Yangtze waters cloudy and filthy. In recent years, and coinciding with the increase of human development along the river, excessive amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus have been found in the river. The excess of these minerals allow algae to thrive and disturb the purity of the Yangtze waters. Ammonia (NH3) is an example of a pollutant frequently found in the river’s water. The amount of ammonia polluting the water is expressed as “ammonia nitrogen”. A report on the toxins found in the Yangtze (www.paper.edu.cn/download/downPaper/200803-867) states, “The main hazardous pollutant of drinking water source in Yangtze River is ammonia nitrogen (NH3- N). Ammonia nitrogen can harm fish, mammals and other aquatic life, causing death, deformity and a limiting of species growth and diversity. High levels of ammonia nitrogen in drinking water lead to illness in humans.” When ammonia reacts with water, the balanced equation is expressed