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There are two main outcomes of this disaster, one of which is negative and the other of which is positive. The negative impact of the pollution of the Songhua River is the damage it's done to the ecosystem. Not only is prolonged exposure to benzene linked to low white blood cell count and leukemia in humans, but it also severely destroys communities and organisms in the river. One of the environmental impacts of the explosions was the decrease in river water quality that it led to. The decrease in water quality led to a commensurate decrease in the amount of fish in the river. The decrease in number of fish then led to a decrease in the crane population, who depended on those small fish for nutrients. Furthermore, the decrease in water quality also proved to be a limiting factor, for it affected the number of organisms able to survive under such extreme conditions, reducing the overall number or organisms in the Songhua River.
However, there is a positive side to this disaster as well. The international attention gained by the chemical slick flowing into Russia has cast a spotlight on the flaws in China's environmental protection policies. Flaws were revealed in the enforcement of local environmental laws, poor communication between state agencies and government officials, and poor emergency response. As a result, there have been revisions in China's Water Pollution Control Act and they have hosted an extensive legal enforcement campaign in the spring following the explosions. These measures were taken with the hope of preventing such an accident from happening again.
Seeing as the chemicals that flowed into the river did not have extreme long-term effects, our personal position is that the explosions were in a way beneficial. The mass panic, chaos, and inconvenience caused by the Harbin water shut-off has proven to help provide evidence for the importance of caring for the environment. As a result of this accident, laws have been rewritten, policies re-thought, and the public now more educated about the importance of preserving the ecosystem.
Seeing as the chemicals that flowed into the river did not have extreme long-term effects, our personal position is that the explosions were in a way beneficial. The mass panic, chaos, and inconvenience caused by the Harbin water shut-off has proven to help provide evidence for the importance of caring for the environment. As a result of this accident, laws have been rewritten, policies re-thought, and the public now more educated about the importance of preserving the ecosystem.
