Environment of China Totally Explained

One of the serious negative consequences of the People's Republic of China's rapid industrial development has been increased pollution and degradation of natural resources. Much solid waste isn't properly disposed of. Water pollution is a source of health problems across the country and air pollution causes up to 750,000 premature deaths each year. China's polluted environment is largely a result of the country's rapid development and consequently a large increase in primary energy consumption, which is primarily provided by coal power plants. China has pursued a development model which prioritizes exports-led growth (similar to many other East Asian countries).

Government action

Efforts to control China's pollution problem have become a top priority of the Chinese leadership. In March 1998, the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) was officially upgraded to a ministry-level agency, reflecting the growing importance the PRC Government places on environmental protection. Beginning in 2006 the government greatly expanded expenses into environmental protection and a series of new laws have been passed. Enforcement of these laws is also being expanded. The PRC has strengthened its environmental legislation and made some progress in stemming environmental deterioration. During the 11th 5-Year Plan (2006-2010), the PRC plans to reduce total emissions by 10% and bring China's energy efficiency up 20%. Beijing in particular is investing heavily in pollution control as part of its campaign to host a successful Olympiad in 2008. Some cities have seen improvement in air quality in recent years. In the first half of 2007, China's total energy consumption per unit of output improved 2.8% and China's sulfur dioxode emissions fell by 0.6%, showing that these new measures have the potential to slow down environmental deterioration. .

   Since 2002, the number of complaints to the environmental authorities has increased by 30% every year, reaching 600,000 in 2004; while the number of mass protests caused by environmental issues has grown by 29% every year.
   The Xinhua News Agency has quoted an environmental official, Wang Jinnan, as saying that more than 410,000 Chinese die as a result of pollution each year. The Financial Times said a World Bank report, entitled Cost of Pollution in China, found up to 760,000 people die prematurely each year in China because of air and water pollution. High levels of air pollution in China's cities leads to 350,000-400,000 premature deaths, it said. Another 300,000 die because of poor-quality air indoors. The newspaper article, quoting World Bank advisers and Chinese officials, also said research showing that there are 60,000 premature deaths each year because of poor-quality water.
   The Chinese government has placed a greater concern on environmental issues since the early 21st century. In 2004, the central government instituted the Green Gross Domestic Product project, in order to determine the true gross domestic product, adjusted to compensate for negative environmental effects. The results were so much worse than projected that the program was suspended entirely in 2007. In 2005, the eleventh five-year plan contained special emphasis on the nation's environmental degradation. In his annual address in 2007, premier Wen Jiabao made 48 references to "environment," "pollution," or "environmental protection." In addition, the Chinese government attempted to hold national "No Car Days" throughout nearly 100 cities, including Beijing, in which cars would be banned on central roads. However, it was largely ignored.

Land pollution

Approximately 30% of China's surface area is desert. China's rapid industrialization could cause this area to drastically increase. The Gobi desert in the north currently expands by about 950 square miles per year. The vast plains in northern China used to be regularly flooded by the Yellow river. In the past 50 years, industrial exploitation in the form of dams and other irrigation infrastructure have all but halted the river's natural course, threatening to dry up the entire river valley and convert the plains into a giant dustbowl of unimaginable scale. Recent droughts, deforestation and global warming only serve to bring the region closer to catastrophe.
In 2001, China initiated a "great green wall" project. It is a project to create a 2800 mile "green belt" to hold back the encroaching desert. The first phase of the project, to restore 9 million acres (36,000 km²) of forest, will be completed by 2010 at an estimated cost of $8 Billion. By 2050 the Chinese government believes it can restore most desertified land back to forest. The great green wall project is possibly the largest ecological project in history. Starting in 2006, the Chinese government expanded protection for forests, banning logging and restricting the size of cities and golf courses to enhance land usage efficiency.
In many cases, local government officials have failed to enforce, or simply ignored environmental edicts made by the central government.

Water pollution

Almost all of the nation's rivers are considered polluted to some degree, and half of the population lacks access to clean drinking water. Ninety percent of urban water bodies are severely polluted. China grades its water quality in five levels, from Grade I to Grade V, with Grade V being the most highly polluted.(External Link

) Water scarcity also is an issue; for example, severe water scarcity in Northern China is a serious threat to sustained economic growth and has forced the government to begin implementing a largescale diversion of water from the Yangtze River to northern cities, including Beijing and Tianjin.
An explosion at a petrochemical plant in Jilin City on 13 November 2005 caused a large discharge of nitrobenzene into the Songhua River. Levels of the carcinogen were so high that the entire water supply to Harbin city (pop 3.8M) was cut off for five days between 21 November 2005 and 26 November 2005, though it was only on 23 November that officials admitted that a severe pollution incident was the reason for the cut off.
The responsibility for dealing with water is split between several agencies within the government. Water pollution is the responsibility of the environmental authorities, but the water itself is managed by the Ministry of Water Resources. Sewage is dealt with by the Ministry of Construction, but groundwater falls within the realm of the Ministry of Land and Resources.

Air pollution

According to the People's Republic of China's own evaluation, two-thirds of the 338 cities for which air-quality data are available are considered polluted-- two-thirds of them moderately or severely so. Respiratory and heart diseases related to air pollution are the leading cause of death in China. Acid rain falls on 30% of the country. China's environmental laws are among the strictest in the world, but enforcing these laws has been difficult in China. The World Health Organization has found that about 750,000 people die prematurely each year from respiratory problems in China.

Water projects

The question of environmental impacts associated with the Three Gorges Damproject has generated controversy among environmentalists inside and outside China. Critics claim that erosion and silting of the Yangtze River threaten several endangered species, while Chinese officials say the dam will help prevent devastating floods and generate clean hydroelectric power that will enable the region to lower its dependence on coal, thus lessening air pollution.
A large "south-to-north" water diversion project, will cost US$57 billion, take 50 years to construct, and divert water from China's four largest rivers to the municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin, and the province of Hebei.

CO₂ emissions and global warming

The People's Republic of China is an active participant in the climate change talks and other multilateral environmental negotiations, and claims to take environmental challenges seriously but is pushing for the developed world to help developing countries to a greater extent. It is a signatory to the Basel Convention governing the transport and disposal of hazardous waste and the Montreal Protocol for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, as well as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and the Kyoto Protocol, although China isn't required to reduce its carbon emissions under the terms of the present agreement. On June 19, 2007, the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency announced, based on an analysis of fossil fuel consumption (including coal power plants) and cement production data, that China surpassed the United States as the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide, putting out 6,200 million tons, to America's 5,800 million.
China can suffer some of the effects of global warming, including sea level rise and glacier retreat.

Environment and development riots

Industrial pollution has its most severe impact on the poor and in China, pollution incidents have been so serious as to be the cause of rioting in recent years. The lack of democracy and the level of corruption in development of factories and plants is a source of tension.

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