China’s economy has begun to expand over the past years, and has become known for their manufacturing. But at what cost? Between the years 1992 and 2002 ,China’s emission output had risen 33% causing environmental and political problems to arise (Cozier, M. (2006, June 12)). Many of the factories China uses for manufacturing products are run by coal, one of the most dirtiest energy sources available (Cleaner China -- the Asian tiger is striving to curb pollution. (2013, August 31)). Burning coal for electricity releases large amounts of sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide-some of the key elements of acid rain-into the atmosphere (Acid Rain. (2009)). Acid rain and air pollution has become an environmental and political problem for China and …show more content…
China is well known for it’s magnificent mountain scenery, like in Guilin, China; but local factories in Guilin have caused the mountain range to be covered in haze (Henderson, M. G. (2002)). Acid rain doesn’t only fall on the mountains, it also falls on one third of China’s land surface, about half of its cities (Dirty business in China. (2006)). Since acid rain travels, it can damage the forest and aquatic life throughout China (Henderson, M. G. (2002)). A lot of the rainwater enters rivers, lakes, and streams causing the acid rain to enter the soil, creating a loss of plant nutrients and poor food quality for the citizens of China (Middleton, N. (2005, March)). In order to protect the environment and citizens of China, the Chinese government need to introduce new environmental protection laws, which means America may have to slow down trade with China in order to motivate a decision. From an environmental aspect there are mostly pros with this idea. If China slows down their pollution then the environment will be safer and cleaner, and there will be less emission in the atmosphere to contribute to global warming. “A report recently published by state media estimates that China's environmental pollution costs $230 billion per year, or about 3.5 per cent of the country's gross domestic product in 2010” (Cleaner China -- the Asian tiger is striving to curb pollution. (2013, August 31)). Unfortunately, there is a down side to
However, China accounts for 33% of the worlds Greenhouse gas emissions, mainly arising as a result of rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, and the deforestation that occurs in its wake. China is also suffering from desertification, coastal reclamation and severe climate change as are result of their long time blasé attitude towards environmental issues. While the Chinese Government now do acknowledge that environmental oversight has occurred, strict censorship within China deprives outsiders of receiving the full story of the environmental calamity that is occurring within China. Citizens within China are becoming increasingly concerned with governmental policy that regards further unnecessary degradation of the environment. A retired party official revealed that there had been 50,000 environmental protests within China in 2012 alone. China has amended numerous government acts and implemented strict new regulations in an attempt to curb pollution and Greenhouse gas production. However, the problem China faces cannot be swept under the 'bureaucratic rug' so to speak. The problem rests with the lack of an alternative clean energy to the fossil fuels currently used to fuel China's resource hungry industry. China has implemented numerous 'real world' measures to reduce environmental impact. Perhaps the most well known of these projects is 'Green Wall of China', which is a 4,500 km green belt
Last year, china had an environmental crisis due to rapid growth of industrialization. This had become a serious threat to China as they had to use roughly 9% of its gross national income. The air
According to history of China, water consumption, growing population and demand for higher living standards were increasing steadily since the 1950s, when industrial development of the country started. In theory that could lead to new economic era and growth of the country, but in practice that caused one of the most important environmental problems in China. First of all, the pollution of water resources in this country goes deep into history in the 1970s. According to Wang (1989), the situation hasn’t changed for the better and the rate of pollution increased rapidly. Even nowadays the government of China cannot tackle
The author states, “It has pledged that its greenhouse gas-emissions will peak by 2030. This is significant because China is the biggest emitter of such gases” (para. 15). This quote doesn’t really make sense within the article. If greenhouse gases will peak by 2030, that would give China fourteen more years to increase the already devastating pollution levels. It is crucial for the sake of China’s environment and citizens that a solution is created soon. Brown’s argument is not solid, in fact, he presents his information as if he doesn’t think pollution is an urgent
I visited China about a year ago, however everything I saw was discussed by Magdoff and Foster in what Every Environmentalist Needs to Know about Capitalism. The intense pollution is enough to make the citizens stay inside for the day, as we here in Colorado might for a snow day. The sights witnessed there is sound evidence that support Magdoff and Fosters argument that capitalism is the primary driving force behind environmental degradation. An explorative journalistic piece by NBC’s 60 minutes Lesley Stahl, revealed that there are currently multi-billion dollar cities being built in China that are completely vacant. China’s massive economic growth can be attributed to policies set forth by the Chinese government some years ago. The Chinese wanted to, ‘catch up with the world, “20 years in a day.” Their ability to actually live up to this goal shows that their government highly values economic growth and will do anything to support it, even at the cost of the environment. This example of the Chinese government is reflective of how most of the world values economic growth, though extreme. Because, no country wants to be in a recession, it is bad for the people causing deep strife in the balance between the environment and economic growth. This paper will utilize the writings of Magdoff and Foster to contend that the way we think about economic growth is harmful to our environment. Additionally this paper will argue that violence is the often necessary for an ideal
Moreover, carbon and petroleum, compounds which produce large amounts of carbon emissions when burned, have accounted for more than half of the energy produced in 2013, while cleaner energy sources, such as solar and wind power, were reported as less than 10% of the produced energy (Adams). Developing countries, like China and India, play a huge role in the production. China alone contributed 27% of 2011’s total carbon emissions (Union). The process of modernization and the air pollution that this causes has led to uncontrollable environmental damage, in addition to a huge influx of health defects and pollution-related deaths.
Last month, the United States of America and fellow global powerhouse China reached a deal to incorporate more non-fossil fuel energy into their total energy consumption. Through this deal, greenhouse gas production will be cut by up to 26 percent in America, lowering our levels to somewhere around 28 percent of the levels experienced in 2005 (Samuelson). This plan has been hailed as a great first step, and it is likely that smaller countries will make similar emissions cuts. That being said, China and America currently combine for 42 percent of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide according to the International Energy Agency. The world still heavily relies on fossil fuels for about 80 percent of its energy. In order to solve this problem of moving to renewable resources without causing a global economic collapse, countries need to be prepared to make budget cuts in other areas. Weak agreements have been enacted with dates a few years down the road to change this degenerative process. However, with loose restrictions on the way each country will achieve this goal, the discussions feels, according to Climate Research Program Leader Myles R. Allen, like a lost cause. It simply is not enough. The United States of America should be taking stronger initiatives and setting the standards for the transition towards a greener tomorrow. These initiatives would benefit both the Earth and its inhabitants. To do this, the government should take this more active role, through
Emissions are gases and particles that are released into the atmosphere. This is caused by burning fuels and other processes. Even though humans contribute most air emissions, animals can also contribute a portion of carbon dioxide and methane into the air through digestive processes. The primary sources of emissions in the United States, which are released by human beings and natural sources, are carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane gas, hexafluoride, and halocarbons. Halocarbons and hex fluoride come as a direct result of man-made inventions (What are Emissions? n.d.). China accounts for about 7% of all world greenhouse gas emissions and is the fourth largest country source behind the Soviet Union, Brazil, and the United States. About three-fourths of China’s emissions are from the production and conversion of coal. They are willing to cooperate in reducing the use of coal because it is the major source of acid rain and air
This article describes the threat coal burning possesses towards China by vastly increasing air pollution, leading to many deaths. Furthermore, the article details both how effective the Chinese government’s response has been towards the increasing dangers of air pollution and the effect of heavy air pollution. The author, Edward Wong, a former TIME news foreign correspondent, has written many unbiased articles related to global crises for NY Times and TIMES News. Published by the somewhat reliable news source New York Times, the credibility of the author compensates for any issues. Covering many important issues around the world such as the Iraq war, the author’s credibility is vastly justified. This article provides detail into the damage
One of China’s best successes has in turn been one of its biggest downfalls. One of the main problems is China’s greatest success which has been its phenomenal economic growth. This is one of the main drivers of the current environmental problems that the country faces. Factories dump pollutants into the air and water. It is difficult to see the Chinese government making the significant sacrifices required to improve their environment if it means slowing down their economic growth.
Beijing is one place that has a huge problem. Their amount of pollution that they are releasing into the air is going to eventually become very toxic and no one is going to be able to survive. They are also one of the worst air quality countries in the world. There was a red alert that happened not too long ago and it finally hit a trigger that something needed to be done. “Now, in a swift policy shift, Beijing plans to issue a red alert on higher thresholds, despite government pledges to better address the toxic air” (Guo). Much of this issue is coming from the enormous amount of coal that is burned. After the alert was sent out, they had to close schools and also put strict limits on the use of cars. It would take years to even make half
Currently, there are many first world countries that have been experiencing with issues that are affecting our lives and China is one of them. These issues include water pollution, air pollution, lack of education, etc. Pollution is a huge problem around the world, not just China. It can cause many health diseases, such as cancer and global warming. China has been dealing with these problems since the 1900s, and as the population grows, the number of health issues increases as well. Most of these health issues come from water pollution and air pollution, though there might be others, these are the major causes. A majority of this pollution came from industrial factories and power plants, but many daily tools such as cars have an impact as well. Air pollution poses a major threat to the Chinese public health. The current method of energy production of power plants in China is coal, which is the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in the world. 70% of the world's carbon emissions came from China. Because of this reason, the country has been encountering smog in different parts of the area, also known as
China’s increasingly steady growth has impacted the environment negatively as economic growth is normally at the expense of environmental sustainability. Environmental sustainability is the maintenance of renewable resource, pollution creation and non-renewable resource depletion that contributes to the quality of environment on a long-term basis. The environmental performance index ranked Australia 3rd whereas China is far behind on the list, being ranked 188th out of 195 countries. China being ranked heavily low is due to the massive produce of carbon dioxide emissions and pollution from factories, which eventually reduces the production of inputs into the natural environment, and thus represents waste and inefficiency. China does not have
When people talk about the most polluted place in the world the first word that pops up in their head is China. China has had many problems with pollution, to the point where it is now effecting the populations health. Pollution in China has become so bad that 1.1 million people are estimated to have died because of it. The skies of China are no longer blue and are hovered by grey clouds of pollution. Even though China’s coal burning and heavy industry has brought many people out of poverty, it’s at the cost of their health. This leaves many people poisoned water making it undrinkable and food that is not edible.
The population on China is constantly increasing and it is increasing quickly. Because of the population increase there are more and more carbon emission, which is causing a lot of pollution in China. “While China’s economic boom has greatly accelerated the devastation of its land and resources, the roots of its environmental problem stretch back centuries” (Albert and Xu, 2016). China’s environment is becoming more and more polluted and it is also causing harm to the plants, animals and ecosystem there. China’s population began booming and has increased by about 10% every year for the last decade (Albert and Xu, 2016). While the population increases so does the industrialization of the country which in turn increases the carbon emissions and pollution. The water is also becoming increasingly