DEGRADATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES BY ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION——A Comparative Study Between Huizhou City and Zhaoqing City

Key words: 
• environmental pollution /
• agricultural economic loss /
• degradation of natural resources /
• acid rain

Abstract: Compared the total agricultural production (TAP) of the 5 counties in Huizhou City with that of the corresponding 5 counties in Zhaoqing City during the period from 1980 to 1996, it can be seen that the TAP growth rate of the 5 counties in Huizhou City had been a little higher than that of the 5 corresponding counties in Zhaoqing City before 1983, but has been becoming lower than the latter since 1984, and the agricultural production in Huizhou City has been gradually becoming lag behind that in Zhaoqing City since then. The TAP loss in Huizhou City kept above 3×10⁸ yuan every year since 1986. Detailed investigation shows that the acid rain caused by the atmospheric pollution may be the main cause for the lower productivity of the land in Huizhou City. The atmospheric pollution arisen from rapid and extensive development of the economy in the Zhujiang(Pearl) River Delta Region has already greatly reduced the load capacity of the natural resources in Huizhou City and severely affected the sustainable development of the region.