China has experienced rapid economic growth in recent decades in response to economic and policy reforms that have been put into place by the Chinese Communist Party. China's emergence into the global market has created immense opportunities for economic growth and prosperity. With the expansion of business and industrialization there have been severe environmental and health concerns arise in recent decades. Throughout the 1990s the total output of pollution from China’s 10 million industrial enterprises have increased by 15% annually. (Susmita Dasgupta et al, 1)
Beijing Smog
Most prominent and noticeable of the environmental concerns in China resulting from industrialization has been the deterioration of air quality. Pollutants suspended into the atmosphere have led to hundreds of thousands of illnesses and deaths among the Chinese population from respiratory diseases. A World Health Organization (WHO) report estimates that diseases triggered by indoor and outdoor air pollution kill 656,000 Chinese citizens each year. (Platt, 2007) Additionally, China has acknowledged an alarming rise in birth defects. Babies born with conditions such as cleft palates and extra fingers and toes now account for up to 6 per cent of births each year.
BBC NEWS-China's Grime Belt (Video)
Below are images of industrial plants in China with quotes by a Chinese photographer named Lu Guang describing the scenes.
Below are images of industrial plants in China with quotes by a Chinese photographer named Lu Guang describing the scenes.
Hebei Province Shexian Tianjin Iron and steel plant is a heavily polluting company. Company scale is still growing, seriously affecting the lives of local residents. March 18, 2008
It has been determined that the most toxic form of pollution of concern in China is polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). High PAH concentrations in the air have been shown to create heritable mutations in mice in addition to increased risks of lung cancer in people exposed to high concentrations. With a production rate of 114,000 tons of PAH emissions in 2004 China accounted for 29% of the global total. (Zhang at el, 2009) Not surprisingly, lung cancer ranks as the fourth highest in cancer related deaths in China.
Villagers kneel down to plea "Stop polluting. We want to live"
Working picture in a local lime kiln
Female worker of a local lime kiln covers all her head with scarf and huge glasses
Pupils all put hands over their mouths when they pass through a local industrial park
As we know a huge contribution toward air pollution in China has been rapid economic growth. What that has led to is a dramatic rise in income across the nation bringing millions of the Chinese poor into a middle class with a buying power to consume. With millions of additional consumers purchasing cars, satisfying diets consisting of meat, and enjoying luxuries, a serious strain on resource production has occurred. For example, raising 1 kg of beef can use 8kg of grain. Within a single decade, from 1990-2000 the total number of cars owned increased from approx 1.1 million to over 6 million, a staggering 445% change, compared to the United States with only a 15% rise in car ownership. Cars cause forms of pollution such as urban smog and acid rain. They generate many other economic and social costs, notably road congestion, traffic accidents, and costly land use. In many cities of new consumer countries, road congestion is already acute and growing rapidly worse. (Meyers, Kent, 2002)
China's Thriving Auto Industry (Video)
When we examine the course of regulations that have been enforced by the Chinese Communist Party across the different levels of government we find that a huge issue impeding progress toward the alleviation of pollution from industrial projects has been corruption amongst government officials. In addition to high rates of bribery and coercion we see trends of non compliance by companies evading laws because they rather pay the fines because it is cheaper than the cost of cleaning up and reducing toxic waste production or they feel that their actions will go unnoticed. For example, in Dasgupta, Wang, Wheeler’s Surviving Success: Policy Reform and the Future of Industrial Pollution in China it is indicated on page 8 that “Pollution abatement incurs costs, so the interest of plant managers in emissions control is highly dependent on the likelihood that non-compliance will be detected by the authorities. Even if non-compliance is detected, the degree of management responsiveness depends largely on the size of the legally-specified penalties and the proportion which is actually collected by authorities.”
Fortunately there is still hope in the future of China’s skies. A report titled Case study of the effects of atmospheric aerosols and regional haze on agriculture: An opportunity to enhance crop yields in China through emission controls? has indicated that agricultural regions suffering from higher densities of smog experience lower crop yields and decrease efficiency. The potential for higher yields is critical to China as the population continues to consume at extraordinary rates and the country increasingly has become reliant on agricultural imports to feed its enormous population. Aside from international pressure to develop stricter policies enforcing pollution, studies such as this provide excellent incentives for the country to control and limit emissions. Efforts in some regions have been made to solve the issues of pollution. For example hundreds of thousands of inefficient coal burning stoves are being replaced by clean burning natural gas stoves and centralized heating facilities. Unfortunately, much of China’s rural population cannot afford such amenities and many are unaware of environmental and health concerns associated with such smog and toxic emissions being produced within their own homes.
