#+HashtagPLUS
In

Menu

Post image 1
Post image 2
Post image 3
Post image 4
Post image 5
Post image 6
Post image 7
Post image 8
Post image 9
Post image 10
Post image 11
Post image 12
Post image 13
Post image 14
Post image 15
Post image 16
Post image 17
Post image 18
Post image 19
Post image 20
Post image 21
Post image 22
Post image 23
Post image 24
Post image 25
Post image 26
Post image 27
Post image 28
Post image 29
1 / 29
0

Rare earth mining is poisoning Mekong River tributaries, threatening 'the world's kitchen'

phys.org·ANTON L. DELGADO, ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL·about 1 month ago
#PD9ikuUJ
#icon_clock#icon_close#icon_comment#science#icon_twitter#thailand
Reading 0:00
15s threshold

Morning mist blankets the Thai village of Tha Ton, where the Kok River enters Thailand from Myanmar, Feb. 20, 2026. Credit: AP Photo/Anton L. Delgado Perched on the bow of his long-tail fishing boat, 75-year-old Sukjai Yana untangled a handful of small fish from his net, disappointed by his catch and fretting over whether he can sell them. Some days Yana earns nothing: demand for fish is falling due to worries over contamination of the Mekong River and its tributaries by toxic runoff from rare earth mines upstream that is threatening millions who rely on those waters for farms and fisheries. Chiang Saen, a fishing hub in northern Thailand, has been Yana's family's home for decades. "I don't know where else I'd go," he said. Yana is one of 70 million people in mainland Southeast Asia who depend on the nearly 5,000-kilometer (3,100-mile) Mekong River. Rising demand for rare earth materials is driving an unregulated mining boom centered in war-torn Myanmar, to the west, that is spreading to Laos, in the east.…

Continue reading — create a free account

Join HashtagPLUS to read full articles, follow hashtags, vote, and join the conversation.

Create free accountLog in
Read More