A couple of years ago I did a piece in OMNI entitled “The Changing Han River” (great photographs) in which I wrote:
While most people agree that the Han River of today is far better than the Han River of the early 1980s, many are convinced that the river is still polluted. Floating garbage is an obvious indicator, but more ominous are the numbers of dead fish that float lazily down the river. Several years ago I don’t remember seeing many dead fish, but this past summer, while riding my bike over the bridges, I was frequently alarmed at seeing large dead fish floating in the water. It was explained to me that the heavy rains caused the water to churn and the polluted water at the bottom of the river was forced upwards; killing the fish. On the other hand, to be fair, I observed a large number of very healthy carp swimming along the empty riverbanks during this past Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving).
I still ride my bike over the bridges and still can see dead fish floating in the river but this article on OHMN (Korean – but the pictures tell the story) gives an indication of just how bad it is, at least to the photographer. But, I must also acknowledge that I have seen a lot of improvements. The protected wetland area at the end of the bike route on the Han River is extremely beautiful. I was there just a couple of days ago and witnessed fish literally jumping out of the river in pursuit of flying insects. I also watched a great number of ducks and other waterfowl feeding along the banks.
Picture credits – 최 병성 and Choi’s article linked above.
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Back in the 1950′s and 1960′s people still swam in the river during summer (many swam nude at that time) and during winter the river would be covered in ice. (I guess the river flowed slower during that time period, slow enough to freeze during winter).
When it was covered in ice, people would ride bicycles across on the ice and dig hole through the ice to fish sitting in the middle of the frozen river.
I used to have photos of it, but I accidentally lost those photos.
I love how even when analyzing the Korean fish you provide a “fair” view. Because Korean fish have to be understood too – sure there may be many dead ones floating about but the situation is changing and there are more and more healthy ones vigorously celebrating the national holiday Chuseok, Korean thanksgiving. The fish you saw were probably heading upstream, fighting the current, to arrive at their ancestral homes on time — dutiful dynamic fish those Han River carp.
“(I guess the river flowed slower during that time period, slow enough to freeze during winter).”
Dude, you’re not gonna believe this, but while you were cryogenically* frozen from the 1960′s till now, there was this thing, global warming. Look it up on Wikipedia. [What? Oh, right.] Wikipedia is this site on the internet, the internet being where you are now …
My intent is not to be mean to Craash, but rather to point out that to Gibbon in his “Decline and Fall” written toward the end of the 18th century, global warming as a result of cutting down the forest that once covered much of Europe was already evident. The Rhine and Danube frequently froze over in winter in Roman times, enabling barbarian invasions, but not, it is thoroughly implied, in Gibbon’s time.
See how easy this global warming stuff is, conservatives? It’s really not a leftist conspiracy, and it really is apparent to innocents like Gibbon and those, like me, who grew up in places where aircon was virtually unheard of when we were kids but now is practically unthinkable.
^ WeikuBoy has no idea what cryogenically means.
I’m giving you a thumbs up for using “aircon” in a serious academic debate.
Whenever I see people water-skiing on the Han, I am always curious about what sort of nasty skin rashes and stomach ailments they wind up with.
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