Pollution is everyone\'s problem, and we all cause it. We cause pollution throug
ID: 296333 • Letter: P
Question
Pollution is everyone's problem, and we all cause it. We cause pollution through the electricity we use, the automobiles we drive, etc. But is that all? Please read the following written by a nephew of mine who works in China and wrote the following on his blog. After reading this passage comment on the questions that follow:
I've heard a lot of environmental concern in the west complaining about China, but excuse me, I have to play apologist here. There is serious, serious, and I mean apocalyptic pollution here. In Guangzhou (2 hours from me), for example, the average traffic police officer has a life expectancy of 43 years, and this is not due to traffic accidents. The 70% remaining living ones have fatal lung infections. There are yellow and black plumes of pollution blanketing some Chinese cities so badly that the people have forgotten the sun. Most of the worlds polluted cities are in China. And guess what?
It's kind of your fault.
I get really tired of westerners talking about the evils of China's effect on the environment. It's simple to pin point where this comes from. Everything that you buy is from China. Why not? It's cheap.
How are cheap things made? They are made with shoddy machinery, using dirty and cheap energy. Oh no! "Those Chinese should get their act together and tell the owners that they are destroying the planet!" Well, I hate to tell you, but the owner of that company is from the US.
In fact most of the factories near me are owned by Americans who visit them about once a year. Chinese factories do use cheap energy, but are forced to abide by Chinese environmental laws. American factories are pumping goods into the west, and pumping money into China, so it's really a love, love, hate a little bit relationship.
I spoke to an American factory owner here, and he told me exactly what he, and other western factory owners do in China. There is a law in China that makes dirty factories shut down after 7 to 10 years, or they must pay an environmental tax, which goes to clean energy technology. The western factory owners simply bulldoze the cheap, and offending factory before the clock runs out, and build a new one on a new, and ever shrinking, plot of land. These types of factories are the worst offenders of dirtying the air. The laws exist here, but westerners are exploiting them. The guy told me that they love when the west complains, because it takes the pressure off of them, and the Chinese government starts picking on the Chinese factory owners. That's not to say that Chinese are not guilty in their own way. Of course they are. The Chinese government has been pretty slow to spend some of their massive surplus on environmental technology. But I don't blame them. Why should they when their biggest market hasn't done a whole lot either? The US is not doing well in the battle to make the earth clean, and still leads the world in carbon emissions. It's a vicious circle, these two beasts. Things need to be done, and time will tell what will happen.
Do you agree that we are the cause of the pollution in China? Is China doing enough to reduce pollution? Are there any alternatives to this massive destruction of the environment in this country? What is going to be the final result of this economic path we have taken?
Although not directly applicable to the above discussion board, you may want to view his recent YouTube video titled "How is China Cleaning Itself Up" https://youtu.be/_znA6R_7HAY
Explanation / Answer
when human started evolving about 2million years ago, man's interaction with nature was more direct and intimate since he was hunter and gatherer.Socio-cultural evolution through ages has changed , the impact of man on biosphere had never been so massive and alarming as it is now.True man does not interact directly with many plants and animals, except the domesticated varieties, but nevertheless he excert profound influence on living being around him .His multifarious activities undertaken for his own benefit invariably alter the environment in ways that harm some species and at time benefit some undesirable species.Humans should not over exploit the environment to its extinction but should ensure its continual well being for his own benefit.Is man a prudent being?
After continous researches and studies conducted all over the world , no one is working much to save the environment. Be it China , U.S.A and many other countries, major , problem is over population, business expansion, race for control on the world power, etc. Ever year the world temperature increases by 2 degrees , the belt around the equator is seen rise in draught areas. Very few people are working to save the environment , and less participation from the governments of big counties are creating major problem for all of us. Indionasia and Malayasia being the largest producer of palm oil has almost cleared the forest to cultivate plam trees , distroying the eco- system , animals and othe plant species.They cater to the needs of oil to the whole world , large consumers being U.S.A.
China and U.S.A are distroying the environment and not working much on this. 24 hours electricity in these counties sounds amazing , but how is it derived ; from burning large amount of coal. Not only this steel plants and many other chemical factories release poisioness gases, this is only to achieve the business targets.Beijing Recently issued red alert , closing schools, factories and construction sites and orderin half of private cars off the roads.but these are temporary measures, China has limited option, a country where millions of people still living under poverty and looking for industrialisation for upliftement. But where they can change they are doing a bit, like use of solar energy for lighting rural areas.
The USA has out sourced of manufacturing to China ,which has reduced the air quality in China.China is the world largest emitter of anthropogenic air pollutant,and measurable amounts of Chinese pollution are transported via atmosphere to other countries, including USA. China produces goods for foreign consumption, this is the key driver for rapid economic growth in china over the past decade.China has grown from net impoter to net expoter in the world, this transition has given China economic strength but at the same time destroyed its environment.The pollutants emitted in China due to goods consumption outside China are regarded as the major reason for destroying the environment.So China and its Export partners are accountable for the emmisions .The question is Who is responsible for this, producers or the consumers.Even though USA has out sourced production to China ,but still they cannot be unaffected by the pollution emmision by China.During 2000-2009 China has recorded high level of pollution emmision,;36% of SO2, 27% of NO2, although it was due to export of goods for consumption outside China.If all of the emmision were reallocated according to where the goods were being consumed( ie , based on consumption - based accounting) , emmision of many China's trade partners would much higher. For eg;,USA emmision for SO2.NO,CO, and Bc would be 6-19%.higher in 2006 if the emmisions embodied in its tradewith China were included.Outsourcing production to China does not relieve consumers in USA or any other country from environmental impacts of air pollution.Sulfate air quality in Western United state is poorer because of transport of Chinese pollutionassociated with production of goods for US consumption, although air quality in the Eastern US is Improved.
China is showing progress in reducing production based emmisions per GDP through technological improvements and changesin economic structure.If China were to enhance energy efficiency and deploy emmission control technologies , for sure China can over come this problem.Even if such improvements were made in the units where there are emmisions of gases , China can improve air quality. Changing sites of industries which has created pollution above a level and starting in another area will not help ,This will only degrade the air of another region and destroy the eco-system.
Considering of international coopperation to reduce transboundary transport of air pollution must confront the question of who is responsible for emmission in one country during production of goods to support comsumption in another.This international trade to sustain current trading system must be reviewed , and to minimizing transboundary air pollution and other environment impacts will likely require international agreements informed by consumption based accounting of emmissions of air pollutants as well as atmospheric transportation modeling