China Moving Mountains

Rather than building elsewhere, or using the limited space available more imaginatively, China has decided to bulldoze the mountains instead, and already many mountains have been flattened, with the soil and rock being used to fill in valleys to create a level terrain suitable for development. The implications are considerable, and Chinese researchers from Chang’an University have warned that the repercussions of manipulating the landscape in this way are serious: already it is causing air and water pollution, soil erosion and flooding, and, ironically, building on the new land created could be dangerous if not impossible because of the softness of the soil and the lack of stability. The environmental losses are enormous already. [caption id="attachment_2595" align="alignright" width="300"] Mountain in China[/caption] China is not the first country to move mountains: the US has decapitated mountains for mining for some time, and experts are warning that for both China and the US, such manipulation is being carried out without sufficient consideration of the likely outcomes particularly regarding the flow of water and its quality, let alone the excessive interference with the natural planetary processes. A mountain was flattened to make way for Hong Kong Airport, and whenever I have flown in or out of Hong Kong, I have grieved to see the remnants of what once was a mountain of majesty. Any rock has a soul, and has feelings, and a mountain has spirit. If you have a moment, pray for the lost mountains and for the landscapes that are being changed to suit the whim of man. One day the land will fight back, teaching us forcibly and painfully that it never serves to interfere with the natural rhythms of Gaia.   [byline]  ]]>