Climate risk for river: Report

Climate change and major water conservation projects are a major risk to the long-term "health" of the Yangtze River, claimed a report released at the weekend.

The Yangtze Conservation and Development Report 2009, compiled by the China Academy of Science (CAS), states the basin of China's longest waterway has been hit by a yearly reduction in rain since 2006, brought on by global warming.

Annual rainfall dropped 10.3 and 6.9 percent respectively in 2006 and 2007, the report said, while severe droughts in 2007 and last year resulted in the shrinking of two of the nation's biggest freshwater lakes, Poyang and Dongting.