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Environment Reporting
China pollution:
The air in China is among the world’s worst, having six times the World Health Organization standard for suspended
pollutants. There’s a saying in China: “From the sparrows in the sky to the intestines of pigs, everything is black.” Near mines
in Taiyuan, roads are black with spillage of overloaded trucks. Children with sooty faces dodge traffic and scoop bucketfuls of
coal to heat their homes. When it rains, rivers form that look as black as ink. —S.G.
South Texas water:
The United States creates a bounty of
agricultural wealth. But the migrant
workers who harvest this food are routinely
subjected to dangerous pesticides and
abusive bosses who don’t even provide
basic sanitary facilities in the fields. In the
colonias of South Texas, there is no
running water. Migrants must boil water
for drinking. —S.G.
Photos by Stan Grossfeld.
Nieman Reports / Winter 2002 43