Environmental issues in China

One of the serious negative consequences of the People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

's rapid industrial development has been increased pollution

Pollution

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...

, smog

Smog

Smog is a type of air pollution; the word "smog" is a portmanteau of smoke and fog. Modern smog is a type of air pollution derived from vehicular emission from internal combustion engines and industrial fumes that react in the atmosphere with sunlight to form secondary pollutants that also combine...

, and degradation of natural resources. Much solid waste is not properly disposed of. Water pollution

Water pollution

Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies . Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds....

 is a source of health problems across the country, and air pollution

Air pollution

Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere....

 causing many 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

Primary energy

Primary energy is an energy form found in nature that has not been subjected to any conversion or transformation process. It is energy contained in raw fuels, and other forms of energy received as input to a system...

 consumption, which is primarily provided by coal

Coal

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...

 power plants. China has pursued a development model which prioritizes exports-led growth

Economic growth

In economics, economic growth is defined as the increasing capacity of the economy to satisfy the wants of goods and services of the members of society. Economic growth is enabled by increases in productivity, which lowers the inputs for a given amount of output. Lowered costs increase demand...

 (similar to many other East Asia

East Asia

East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...

n countries). In early 2006, Forbes

Forbes

Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...

magazine reported that all 10 of the 10 most polluted cities in the world are in China.

Issues

• China water crisis
  China water crisis
  The Chinese water crisis threatens the stability and prosperity not only in People's Republic of China but globally as well, according to John McAlister from the film Aquabiotronics. According to the World Bank forecast, Mainland China has only a per-capita share of 2700 cubic meters per annum,...
  
  
• Electronic waste in Guiyu
  Electronic waste in Guiyu
  Guiyu, China, in Guangdong Province is made up of four small villages. It is the location of the largest electronic waste site on earth,. China is believed to be the predominant recipient of the world's electronic waste, with a roughly estimated one million tons being shipped there per year,...
  
  
• Environmental issues with the Three Gorges Dam
  Environmental issues with the Three Gorges Dam
  The environmental impact of the Three Gorges Dam is diverse. Effects of the dam include degraded water quality, detriments to wildlife, and potential riverbank collapses....
  
  

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 15% and bring China's energy efficiency up by 30%. Beijing in particular invested heavily in pollution control as part of its campaign to host a successful Olympiad in 2008

2008 Summer Olympics

The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...

. 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 by 2.8% and China's sulfur dioxide

Sulfur dioxide

Sulfur dioxide is the chemical compound with the formula . It is released by volcanoes and in various industrial processes. Since coal and petroleum often contain sulfur compounds, their combustion generates sulfur dioxide unless the sulfur compounds are removed before burning the fuel...

 emissions fell by 0.6%, showing that these new measures have the potential to slow down pollution growth.

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 Financial Times

Financial Times

The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....

 said a World Bank report, entitled Cost of Pollution in China, (prepared with the cooperation of the State Environmental Protection Agency) 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 indoor air of poor quality. The newspaper article, quoting World Bank advisers and Chinese officials, also said that the report omitted research showing that there are 60,000 premature deaths each year because of water of poor quality.

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

Green Gross Domestic Product

The green gross domestic product is an index of economic growth with the environmental consequences of that growth factored in. Green GDP monetizes the loss of biodiversity, and accounts for costs caused by climate change...

 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

Five-Year Plans of China

The five-year plans of People's Republic of China are a series of economic development initiatives. The economy was shaped by the Communist Party of China through the plenary sessions of the Central Committee and national congresses...

 contained special emphasis on the nation's environmental degradation

Environmental degradation

Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems and the extinction of wildlife...

. In his annual address in 2007, premier

Premier of the People's Republic of China

The Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China , sometimes also referred to as the "Prime Minister" informally, is the Leader of the State Council of the People's Republic of China , who is the head of government and holds the highest-ranking of the Civil service of the...

 Wen Jiabao

Wen Jiabao

Wen Jiabao is the sixth and current Premier and Party secretary of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, serving as China's head of government and leading its cabinet. In his capacity as Premier, Wen is regarded as the leading figure behind China's economic policy...

 made 48 references to "environment," "pollution," or "environmental protection

Environmental protection

Environmental protection is a practice of protecting the environment, on individual, organizational or governmental level, for the benefit of the natural environment and humans. Due to the pressures of population and our technology the biophysical environment is being degraded, sometimes permanently...

." In addition, the Chinese government attempted to hold national "No Car Day

No Car Day

In 2007, China launched the Green Transport and Health week campaign. The campaign ended with a No Car Day Saturday.This Chinese national urban transport campaign was implemented by the Ministry of Construction. During the week of September 22, walking, biking, public transportation, and carpooling...

s" throughout nearly 100 cities, including Beijing, in which cars would be banned on central roads. However, it was largely ignored.

Soil problems and river cessation

Approximately 30% of China's surface area is desert. China's rapid industrialization could cause this area to drastically increase. The Gobi Desert

Gobi Desert

The Gobi is a large desert region in Asia. It covers parts of northern and northwestern China, and of southern Mongolia. The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the...

 in the north currently expands by about 950 square miles (2,460.5 km²) per year. The vast plains in northern China used to be regularly flooded by the Yellow River

Yellow River

The Yellow River or Huang He, formerly known as the Hwang Ho, is the second-longest river in China and the sixth-longest in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Har Mountains in Qinghai Province in western China, it flows through nine provinces of China and empties into...

. However, overgrazing

Overgrazing

Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, or by overpopulations of native or non-native wild animals.Overgrazing reduces the...

 and the expansion of agricultural land could cause this area to increase, in a process known as desertification

Desertification

Desertification is the degradation of land in drylands. Caused by a variety of factors, such as climate change and human activities, desertification is one of the most significant global environmental problems.-Definitions:...

. In the past 50 years, exploitation in the form of dam

Dam

A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...

s and other irrigation

Irrigation

Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...

 infrastructure

Infrastructure

Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...

 have all but halted the river's natural course, threatening to dry up the entire river valley. The cessation of river flows, or flow stoppages, has surged since the 1980s because of increased water usage and waste

Waste

Waste is unwanted or useless materials. In biology, waste is any of the many unwanted substances or toxins that are expelled from living organisms, metabolic waste; such as urea, sweat or feces. Litter is waste which has been disposed of improperly...

. In 1997, the lower Yellow River did not flow 230 days out of the year, an increase of over 2000% since 1988. Increased erosion

Erosion

Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...

 and sedimentation

Sedimentation

Sedimentation is the tendency for particles in suspension to settle out of the fluid in which they are entrained, and come to rest against a barrier. This is due to their motion through the fluid in response to the forces acting on them: these forces can be due to gravity, centrifugal acceleration...

, especially on the Loess Plateau

Loess Plateau

The Loess Plateau , also known as the Huangtu Plateau, is a plateau that covers an area of some 640,000 km² in the upper and middle reaches of China's Yellow River. Loess is the name for the silty sediment that has been deposited by wind storms on the plateau over the ages...

, has made the river much less navigable by ship.

In 2001, China initiated a "great green wall

Green Wall of China

The Green Wall of China, also known as the Green Great Wall or Great Green Wall , will be a series of human-planted forest strips in the People's Republic of China, designed to hold back the expansion of the Gobi Desert...

" project. It is a project to create a 2800 miles (4,506.2 km) "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. The Chinese government believes that, by 2050, it can restore most desert 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

Logging

Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...

 and restricting the size of cities and golf course

Golf course

A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...

s 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.

Waste

The small level of "environmental awareness" has hindered the development of proper recycling systems in China's cities as the amount of garbage increases.

External links

• chinadialogue - a news service about the environment of China