Environmental degradation in China is now so severe that pollution now poses a major long-term burden on the Chinese public. Cancer has become China's leading cause of death due to the pollution and the air pollution alone is to be blame for hundreds of thousands of death in China every year. The fast growing economy the derives from a staggering expansion of heavy industry and urbanization that requires colossal inputs of energy, almost all from coal, the most readily available, and dirtiest, source.
For air quality, the major culprit is coal. China has an abundant supplies of coal and burns more of it than the United States, Europe and Japan combined.
Heavy traffic and low-grade gasoline have also made vehicles the leading source of air pollution in major Chinese cities. In 2007, only 1 percent of China’s urban population of 560 million breathes air considered safe by the European Union, according to a World Bank study of Chinese pollution published in that year.
As China continues along its path of industrialization and urbanization, more and more of the available water will be rendered useless for drinking, irrigation, and hydro-power purposes. More and more water is being allocated to industrial and urban demand than ever before, and that leaves even less water to be used for domestic and agriculture. Also, as more water is being used for industry compared to domestic and agriculture, China’s dwindling water sources will become more heavily polluted as the industrialization is responsible for a great deal of pollution.
-Clarissa
Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/world/asia/26china.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
http://www.arlingtoninstitute.org/wbp/global-water-crisis/457
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