Acid Rain Grows In China - 218 Cities At "Severe" Levels In 2004

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More of China's cities are suffering from acid rain and its big rivers and lakes are heavily polluted, the government said yesterday in a report that highlighted the environmental costs of surging economic growth.
Two-thirds of the countries household sewage was untreated last year, while "heavy pollution" tainted some cities' air, according to a report by the state environmental protection agency.

Acid rain - blamed on smoke from coal-burning factories and power plants - is spreading, with the number of cities suffering from severe levels rising last year to 218.

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In Beijing, the government is pouring money into moving polluting industries out of the capital in an effort to clean up the city before the Olympics in 2008."

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,7369,1498276,00.html