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        April 29, 2008

(CNN Student News) -- April 29, 2008 Green Wall of China - Root around in the reasoning behind China's "Great Green Wall" project. Shoutout AZUZ: Time for the Shoutout! Which of these is the longest? A) The distance from Earth to the international space station, B) The Mississippi River, C) The distance from L.A. to New York or D) The Great Wall of China? You've got three seconds -- GO! We served them up in increasing order. The Great Wall is the longest by more than 1,000 miles! That's your answer and that's your Shoutout! Green Wall of China LLOYD: The Great Wall stretches more than 4,000 and was built over thousands of years. Right now, China is working on a new wall. It'll take about 70 years to complete and won't be quite as long. But just like the Great Wall, the goal of this new project is protection. Eunice Yoon gives us a look at the "Great Green Wall" of China. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) EUNICE YOON, CNN REPORTER: Chinese worker Zhang Hai Bo used to spend his days taking from the land. Now, the former farmer is giving back to it. Zhang is one of a thousand volunteers planting trees outside of Beijing as part of a government campaign to fend off the effects of an ever-expanding desert on China's capital. ZHANG HAI BO, GREEN WALL VOLUNTEER: By planting trees, we are helping to prevent sandstorms from blowing into Beijing. YOON: Beijing is just one of several cities around Asia hit every year by raging sandstorms. The storms shroud buildings and streets with clouds of toxic dust and are often referred to as a natural disaster. And environmentalists say this annual event is getting worse as a result of climate change and this: The Gobi, the largest desert in Asia, is growing, according to some researchers, at an alarming rate of 950 square miles a year. BAI JIANHUA, CHINESE FORESTRY OFFICIAL: China's overpopulation, deforestation, overfarming and misuse of water contribute to the sandstorms. YOON: The government believes this multi-billion dollar barricade of trees and shrubs is the answer. It's nicknamed the "Green Wall of China," and when it's finished in 2050, the wall is to stretch 2,800 miles all the way from Inner Mongolia to Beijing. Officials say it'll serve as a windbreak. They say the vegetation is arranged to create an artificial ecosystem to stabilize the dunes and help more plants to grow here. BAI: The overall number of sandstorms is decreasing and each one is getting weaker. YOON: Eight years ago, this mountainside was completely barren. Now, as part of the Green Wall project, it's covered in trees. Yet some environmentalists are skeptical that this strategically placed forest belt can actually ward off an encroaching desert. JIA BAOQUAN, CHINESE ACADEMY OF FORESTRY: It would be difficult to completely solve the environmental problem with this project. It is more a matter of climate change than one caused by man. YOON: Some environmental groups argue the government should address those man-made problems by paying farmers to reduce livestock and raise water prices. They say those moves would help prevent overgrazing on arid lands and encourage water conservation. Some Chinese scientists have called the project a waste of government funds. But Zhang sees the value in his work. ZHANG: This is for my country, my kids and future generations. YOON: And only future generations will be able to determine just how effective the Green Wall actually is. Eunice Yoon, CNN, Yanqing, China. (END VIDEO CLIP)

 
   

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