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The 1950s |
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1958 - 1961: Large-scale deforestation due to cultivation of wooded areas and firewood demand (backyard furnaces). |
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The 1960s |
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1960: Increasing use of tube wells for irrigation in Northern China will lead to groundwater depletion in the 1990s. |
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The 1970s |
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1970 - 1980: Based on a 50-year forest inventory, researchers find that between 1970 and 1980 Chinese forest expanded significantly. |
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1976, July: Massive earthquake (7.8 Richter scale) devastates the city of Tangshan (Hebei Province). At least 270,000 people die. |
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The 1980s |
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1989: Revision of the environmental legislation from 1979. |
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The 1990s |
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1993: Production of the pesticide DDT is officially stopped (but illegally used for several subsequent years). |
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1993: Widespread concerns among environmentalists about the Three Gorges Dam project. |
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1995, October: Earthquake in Yunnan (6.5 at Richter scale). 50 people die and 6,000 are injured. 170,000 people homless. |
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1997, October: Certain environmental offenses are treated as crime and are included in the criminal code of China. |
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1998: WHO reports that of the ten most polluted cities in the world, seven can be found in China. |
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1998: Worst flooding in years - 230 million people affected and 3,656 dead. |
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1998, April: One of the most devastating sandstorm in decades is raging in Beijing for two days, blocking sunlight. |
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The 2000s |
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2005, November: Water supply of Harbin city is cut off after high concentration of benzene in Songhua river. |
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2005, November: Attempts by regional government officials to cover up the water pollution catastrophe in Harbin. |
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2005, November: Major pollution of Songhua river after explosion of petrochemical plant in Jilin city (Jilin Province). |
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2007, October: Four million people have to be resettled within the next 10 to 15 years in the Three-Gorges Dam area. |
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2008, May: Earthquake strikes Sichuan province: Death toll reaches 20,000. |
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2008, May: Death toll of May 12 earthquake rises to 40,075. |
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2008, June: Death toll of May 12 earthquake rises to 69,016, with more than 18,000 people still missing. |
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