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China's Yangtze River Turns Red

redletterdave writes "The Yangtze River, the third longest river in the world traditionally known as the 'golden watercourse,' mysteriously blushed for the first time on Sept. 6. Residents in the surrounding area near the city of Chongqing, where the Yangtze connects to the Jialin River, literally stopped in their tracks when they noticed their once golden river had turned a shocking shade of red. Residents have carefully crept down to the riverbanks for the past few days to save some of the red, tomato juice-like river water in bottles. Early predictions from scientists say the red water was likely a result of pollution, but investigators are still investigating the unknown cause."

17 of 272 comments (clear)

  1. sounds familiar by __aaltlg1547 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Soon Moh She will lead the workers out of their factories and part the Yellow Sea.

  2. Re:Uh-huh.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Trying to figure out the scientific explanation behind this isn't nerdy enough?

  3. Some photos obviously enhanced by DaTrueDave · · Score: 5, Informative

    I was looking at some of the photos linked in that article, and I noticed that some of them are pretty obviously photoshopped. I'm sure the river was red, but I'm not so sure it was such a dramatic shade of red. You can see where the editing was sloppy and bled over into the arm and thumb of the person holding the bottle, and the arm of the guy behind, as well as some sections that are probably the actual shade of red that the river turned.

    1. Re:Some photos obviously enhanced by TaoPhoenix · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I'm so upset that I didn't even bother to read more than a few sentences of the article given the topic we're having.
      "Nobody is quite sure what caused the color change."

      So in the rush to get there first with the reporting race, someone couldn't be bothered to give a college chem lab student lunch and an hour to get a chemical composition of the water? Oh, right, that would actually take journalism work.

      --
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    2. Re:Some photos obviously enhanced by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The same already photoshopped picture is available from both China Foto Press and Barcroft Media, which are credited in the Daily Mail picture. Sloppy screening on the Daily Mail's behalf, but the image manipulation appears to originate closer to the source.

  4. Re:Red? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    I was thinking the same thing then clicked the link in the article and that was where the red pictures were, the page we are linked to has the before pictures.

    It's pretty unmistakeably red if you can see red.

  5. Ukraine by roman_mir · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Here is a picture that I remember from way back - this is a red river in the city of Zaporizhia in Ukraine, this city has (or had) a number of factories, smelters, motor factories, I think most of them were just dumping the waste right into Dnepr (the main river in Ukraine) and then all that water flows into the Black sea.

  6. That's nothing serious by dkleinsc · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm from Cleveland. Call me when the Yangste is on fire.

    --
    I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
  7. Iron oxide, maybe a spill from an aluminium plant by jopet · · Score: 5, Informative

    Aluminium plants produce a huge quantity of "red mud" which is red from iron oxide. A spill could well color the whole river red.
    See e.g. here where the mud spilled through a broken dam in Hungary: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2010/10/05/GA2010100502818.html

  8. Sounds like a red tide by Grayhand · · Score: 5, Interesting

    There are chemicals that can cause it but the other option is all the fertilizer resulted in a red tide, a type of algae. For wildlife it's as bad or worse than a chemical spill. The blooms can come on suddenly and should fade once the food source gets used up.

  9. And now for a musical interlude by dkleinsc · · Score: 5, Funny

    When Android was in China's land ... let my cell phones go!
    Just trolled so hard they could not stand .. let my cell phones go!
    Go down, Samsung, way down in China's land,
    tell ol' Jintao to let my cell phones go!

    (Nah, it just doesn't quite have the same ring to it)

    --
    I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
  10. Listen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just let the Jews go. It only gets worse from here.

    - Pharaoh

    1. Re:Listen by jbeaupre · · Score: 5, Funny

      If it gets to where all the first born children die, there won't be many people left to stop them from leaving in this one-child-only country.

      --
      The world is made by those who show up for the job.
  11. Re:Obvious propaganda is obvious. by icebike · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Oh right, commemorating the great events of September ???, lessee, when was that?

    Huge earthquakes, near Yiliang County.
    Followed by heavy rains.
    Large landslides.
    117 miles south of a major Yangtze tributary into which local rivers drain.

    Far more likely an industrial spill or iron ore laden mudslide.

    --
    Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
  12. Re:Red? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Quite obviously photoshopped. Look at the photo with the two men, one holding a bottle. Now look along the left side of the bottle. Look at the men's left arms. Screaming fake. If you inspect some of the other pictures closely, you will also find other areas where color manipulation is evident.

  13. Re:Red? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    AC Parent is a liar

    No, he's not.

    Take a good look at the area under the bottle in this image. Some of the water remains brown, yet parts of the two men's arms are the exact same color as the water.

  14. Re:Obvious propaganda is obvious. by Russ1642 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hopefully Mother Earth has already had The Talk with the river.