Bloggers map pollution sites in China

The China Pollution Map is a grassroots initiative to map reports of pollution in the country. It currently features information and photos for more than 50 incidents of pollution or contamination, derived from media reports and other sources.

The map was created on Google Maps by Fujian-based blogger Guo Baofeng (also known as Peter Guo, or Amoiist), who was inspired by the work of photographer Lu Guang, last month awarded the Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography for his depictions of pollution in China. Several other people have subsequently contributed to the map (an interesting example of how the collaboration features built into Google Maps allow a map owner to grant other users permission to edit the map).

An article by Radio Free China quotes Guo as saying that after super-imposing this map with the China Cancer Villages Map, a similar project created by another civic-minded blogger, he believes there may be a connection between the two.