Chinese National Geographic

Three Gorges Probe has a translation of part of an article from a 2004 Chinese National Geographic on the state of dam safety in China. It has good statistics and examples for people who are following the issue closely. More interesting for me: The existence of a Chinese National Geographic magazine. (It is here for those who can read it.) The existence of National Geographic is a nice indicator of growing popular environmental consciousness. Apparently, NG has been offering an expanding line of non-English language editions since 1995. The environmental consciousness represented by NG might not live up to the pure, noncommercial standards of Edward Abbey fans, but it is exactly the kind of popular environmental awareness that makes environmentalism possible as a social movement.