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China Pollution

Decent Essays

Nearly two centuries ago, Great Britain watched it’s environment deteriorate from the pollution caused by the rapidly expanding factories of the industrial revolution. Today, China is one of many countries who see it’s growth in industry and modernization of the economy cause similar environmental issues. The country, along with its capital of Beijing, has become the poster boy of the decline of quality of life when pollution is allowed to be emitted unchecked. Health issues related to this have been on the rise, and many individuals in China had devoted time in educating the public on these issues, with the government slowly catching up. The pollution in China is one of many examples of the issues of modern industrialization, but the responses by individuals and the government are starting to have some serious results in recent years. The pollution of the environment in China has been an issue for the country for decades due to the rapid modernization of their economy. The large-scale deterioration of the environment had started with the economic reforms in China during the 1970s, with a good example of this being the Hansteel plant in Handan, as Ian Johnson of the New Yorker writes, “As Hansteel expanded, it swallowed up neighboring villages or left them almost uninhabitable, because of the heavy pollution […] Hansteel began paying residents in the adjacent communities a “pollution fee,” typically several hundred dollars a year ” (Johnson). The factories opening and

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