Aquaculture on the shores of Bo Hai
Photo: Nasa
Photo: Nasa
In the 2000 image, aquaculture has swallowed up most of the coastline, with blue and aquamarine rectangles replacing what was previously bare ground.
NASA say: "aquaculture can provide substantial benefits, including employment and food security. Poorly planned or poorly managed aquaculture, however, can damage or destroy habitat, including wetlands that modulate sediment pollution runoff into bays and estuaries, and mangroves that protect coastal communities and inland ecosystems from storm surges. Large-scale aquaculture also produces waste products that infiltrate local sediments. Runoff can transport those sediments to areas beyond those originally used for aquaculture."
