China Environment

China, the new superpower, is rapidly growing its consumption of the world’s natural resources. In Africa and Central Asia, the country is exploring oil fields. It is searching for gas in Burma, constructing hydropower units in Mekong, exploiting minerals and coal in Australia and destroying forests in the Indonesia. China’s massive appetite for raw materials is taking a toll on nature, causing massive environmental damage and helping to push the planet’s ecological system to the limits.

China, the new superpower, is rapidly growing its consumption of the world’s natural resources. In Africa and Central Asia, the country is exploring oil fields. It is searching for gas in Burma, constructing hydropower units in Mekong, exploiting minerals and coal in Australia and destroying forests in the Indonesia. China’s massive appetite for raw materials is taking a toll on nature, causing massive environmental damage and helping to push the planet’s ecological system to the limits. For many years the US was the world’s leading polluter, but in 2008 took on the unenviable crown of biggest polluter in the world.

 

China Environment: Pollution

According to the Worldwatch Institute, China is home to 16 of the world’s most polluted cities. Pollution is also draining China’s economic reserves, costing $200 billion annually. Some of the major environmental issues haunting China’s buoyant growth are:

• Water pollution: Rampant industrialization is polluting China’s water bodies. Three major lakes, Taihu, Chaohu and Dianchi, have become extremely dirty. The quality of drinking water has also deteriorated. According to the State Environmental Protection Administration, only 69.3% of the water used in cities qualifies for human consumption. Around 700 million Chinese drink fetid water, the quality of which is much below the World Health Organization standards.

 

• Air pollution: People living in Chinese cities suffer from respiratory and heart disease. Around 750,000 people die prematurely every year due to respiratory issues resulting from the inhalation of polluted air. Air pollution also leads to the frequent occurrence of acid rain over 30% of China’s territory.
• Desertification: China is grappling with desertification, mostly on its Western frontiers. The Gobi Desert is expanding at an annual rate of 2500 square km per year. China aims at transforming most of its decertified areas into forest by 2050.

 

China Environment: The Tibetan Side

Due to China’s slipshod development policies, most of the wildlife in Tibet and the region’s lush green grasslands have been destroyed. Watersheds and hillsides have been eroded, resulting in one of the worse downstream flooding. Some of the most critical impacts of China’s development policies have been:

• The destruction of 46% of Tibetan forests.
• Uncontrolled deforestation, resulted in soil erosion, siltation of water bodies and massive landslides.
• Unregulated trophy hunting, pushing around 81 endangered species to the brink of extinction.
• The unmonitored extraction of valuable minerals, such as chromium, gold and uranium, which has further destroyed Tibet’s environment.

Although China’s environmental regulations are among the strictest in the world, the government has not succeeded in implementation. China is under tremendous international pressure to take serious steps towards the adoption of environmental friendly policies. The World Bank has contributed towards China’s prestigious ‘Three Gorges Dam’ project. However, the effects of such coercive measures are yet to be seen.