First off, kudos to the author because this is an extremely difficult story to report. She did a wonderful job of putting the story in context and interviewing the real people that this story impacts, a necessary outcome because Chinese officials are loathe to comment on these topics. The language and imagery paint a scene that the reader can visualize. However, I found myself not wanting to continue reading once I got past the first couple of pages. While the author pointed to "flickers" of hope, this story is more doom than anything. A friend of mine recently was watching the Nat. Geographic channel and his reaction was, "Our world is f*#ked." It's important that journalists don't make readers feel that there is no hope, especially with environmental stories. We need to feel like we can overcome these challenges. Though the truth is this story has little to no hope in it, what there is needs to be emphasized more.