Environmental
Issues in China
Introduction/Overview
Globalization & Diversity: Rowntree,
Lewis, Price, Wyckoff
3
Environmental Consequences
• Chinas environmental
– Grassland degradation
problems are among the
– Soil erosion
most severe of any
– Overgrazing
major country and are
– Salinization
getting worse:
• Water pollution and
• Air pollution
shortage
• Land Degradation
–
Freshwater
– Cropland losses
–
Groundwater
depletion
– Desertification
– Oceans
– Disappearing
• Loss of biodiversity –
wetlands
increase in invasive species
Water Shortage
Water Shortage
• Unevenly distributed North only 1/3 of South
• 100 cities suffer from severe shortages, halting
industrial production.
• 300 cities out of Chinas 617 Cities suffer from
shortage
• 2/3 from groundwater mining – salt water intrusion
in coastal areas and subsidence in some cities
• World’s worst cessation of river flows.
• Yellow River stopped flowing during 20 of the years
1972-1997
• Number of days without flow up from 90 in 1980 to
230 in 1997
Water Shortage
• Hard to meet the water needs of the rising population,
especially when such large numbers of people are
concentrated in the cities, further straining water supplies.
• “This water shortage prevents the river from flushing its
heavy load of pollutants into the Yellow Sea.
• Mainland China has only a per-capita share of 2700
cubic meters per annum, ¼ of the world's average
water supply per person
• 2/3 of China's 660 largest cities face water deficits.
– Beijing is among the cities most affected.
Water Shortage
The farmer holds a small irrigator used to
lift water out of a canal using small
buckets
Competition rural vs
urban intensifying:
• Residential use is rising
from 31 to 134 bil. tons
from 1995 to 2003
• Industrial use
rising from 52 to 269 bil.
Ton
• Farmers can not
compete economically
• 1000 ton of water in
agriculture = $200
• In industry it =
$14,000 of profit.
Virtual water?
Water Pollution
China’s Water Pollution
• Water Pollution Has Become China’s Most Urgent
Environmental Problem Today
• At least 300 million people in China do not have
access to safe drinking water
• As much as 70% of China’s lakes, rivers, and streams
are affected by water pollution
• Although legislation is in place China’s government
does not strictly enforce.
• Riverside chemical and power plants, along with
paper, textile, and food production facilities, are a
leading source of pollution of China's rivers and
lakes
Water Pollution
• Due to China’s population being over one billion,
their water supply is slowly disappearing.
• Their water is also being contaminated by the
industrial growth with benzene which causes
cancer.
• For example, on November 24, 2005, there was an
explosion at a chemical plant in northeastern China.
• It spilled 100 tons of benzene in the Songhua River.
• Due to this, the city of Harbin was forced to shut its
water supply to 3.8 million people for a week.
Water Pollution: Waste Water
• Waste water is when raw sewage is dumped
into the rivers and carries water-borne
diseases like typhoid, cholera, dysentery and
hepatitis
• This leads to health epidemics and deaths
• It also contaminates farmland due to irrgation.
• Second most severe env.
health problem
• Sewage, agricultural and
industrial waste
contaminates water
supplies and cause many
deceases
• Much surface and
groundwater is declared
heavily polluted by heavy
metals incl. lead, mercury,
cadmium, arsenic and
fluorides.
• China’s per capita water
availability only ¼ of world
Skeletal fluorosis
average - shortage
Water Pollution
•
Arsenic contaminated
water
Water Pollution
• Nearly 90% of China's cities and 75% of its lakes are
impacted by water pollution.
• Coastal waters suffer from urban run-off, red tides, and
biodiversity loss.
• "Surface water pollution across the country is still
relatively grave … 59.9 percent of rivers were grade
3 or better, 23.7 percent of rivers were grade 4 or 5
and 16.4 percent failed to meet any grade standard.”
• (China State of the Environment 2010)
Water Pollution
•At the same time, the quantity of
wastewater dumped into the river
from non-industry sources has
increased, resulting in everdeteriorating conditions” (Karasov
2002).
•Some areas are categorized as not
even fit to be touched by people
(Karasov 2002).
Water Pollution
• More than 700 mio people consume drinking water
contaminated with levels of animal and human
excreta that exceed maximum permissible levels by
as much as 86% in rural areas and 28% in urban
areas
• By 1996 only 5% of industrial and 17% of domestic
waste received any treatment before being
discharged in rivers, lakes, oceans etc. However
these percentages are increasing
• Also dramatic increase in fresh water aquaculture
Water Pollution
•Substances such as cadmium, lead, DDT, coliform
bacteria, and arsenic have been found in the rivers
(Some Polluted Outlets… 2004).
•“The decline in water conditions across China is
directly related to China's population growth, strong
economic growth, and uncontrolled urbanization and
semi-urbanization” (Karasov 2002).
•In 1996, governmental officials in the country
reported that 40% of the sections of the Huang and
Yangtze rivers near major cities did not even fulfill
the minimum standards of water quality
(Environmental Health Perspectives 2002).
•
http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200708/r171792_646585.jpg
China’s Water Pollution
• Pollution has often led to the temporary shut down
of tap water in areas along China’s rivers.
• Hundreds of thousands of farmers must use filthy
water for drinking and irrigation.
• The economies of entire farming and fishing
villages have been destroyed because of pollution.
• 1/3 of all fish species in the Yellow River have
become extinct because of pollution and various
other factors.
Migrant worker, shoveling extremely polluted water and mud
from a nearly dried river.
(Johnson,Tim. China's Environmental Woes are so Large They've Begun to Generate Social Instability.
http://earthhopenetwork.net/economic_boom_batters_chinas_climate.htm)
Cancer mortality from water
pollution - TVE
Liver and stomach cancer deaths
doubled since the 1970s. China has
Highest liver cancer dead rate in the
world
• Increase in cancer
mortality over time in
control area, polluted
and most polluted
townships
• Show that increased
pollution results in
increased mortality
• steady increase in
cancer mortality over
time in polluted areas
Cancer mortality and birth defects –
changes to agriculture
Impact of new practice of
using industrial wastewater
for irrigation
70 km long canal build in
1960, daily received
400,000 m3 of untreated
wastewater from
coalmines and
petrochemical, power and
chemical plants –
increasing cancer mortality
and birth defect
Ocean Pollution
The Songhua River, despite its pollution and
trash, is a popular playground for Harbin
residents in the summertime.
Lanzhou, Gansu province: A resident
takes a water sample from the
polluted Yellow river".
Water pollution of the Ao River in
Zhejiang
Air Pollution
Air Pollutants
• 16 of the world's 20 most polluted cities are in China.
• China is the world’s leading source of respiratory and cardiovascular
disease and acid rain
– 25.5 million tons each year
• Many different pollutants in the air
– sulfur dioxide
• Iron, steel and chemical factories spew sot, fly ash and into the
air
– Black carbon
• produced by cars, stoves, factories and crop burning
– Desert dust
• from sand and dust storms in the Gobi Desert
– Mercury
Air Pollution
• Air pollution is mostly
human made
• As many as five million
deaths are caused by air
pollution every year in India
• Cities in India, such as
Bombay and Calcutta, are
below safety limits for
pollutants
• Much of India’s pollution
come from motor vehicles
Air pollution
• Most severe enviormental health problem
• 3/4 city dwellers live below Chinas air-quality standards
• Acid rain fell on a quarter of cities for more than 60% of rainy
days
Air Pollution
• "Overall urban air quality is good with relatively heavy
pollution in some cities. Among 471 cities, 3.6 percent met
grade 1 air quality standard, 79.2 percent met grade 2, 15.5
percent met grade 3 and 1.7 percent failed to met grade 3."
• Interpretation: Almost one in five cities still fails to meet the low
passing grade set by the government on an annual basis.
Photograph: Guang Niu/Getty Images
China – Air Pollution
Air Pollution Causes
• Fossil fuels:
– Coal
• For industry and heating homes.
• Coal is cheap but pollutes the air.
– Factories
– Vehicles
Coal and Air Pollution
• Coal is the number one source of air pollution
in China
• China gets 80% of its electricity and 70% of its
total power from coal
• Around 6 million tons of coal is burned
everyday to power factories, heat homes,
cook meals
Coal
• 70% of energy is from coal, used for electricity and
forging steel.
• Most homes and businesses use coal.
• Coal is cheap and extremely dirty, releasing sulfur
and other chemicals when burned.
• Some businesses in big cities have switched over to
fossil fuels, but most still rely heavily on coal.
• Previously the government had claimed that the
cost of solving the problem by building cleaner
factories was too high.
• Governmental leaders are starting to order
businesses to clean up, and some of the worst
polluting factories to shut-down.
CO2 Emission
• CO2 emission,
largely a by-product
of energy
production and use
• Low and middle
income countries
have seen a
relatively much
higher increase in
CO2 emission
Car Emissions
• Huge shift recently towards driving cars and in
some areas of the cities, bicycles are no longer
allowed (Global Refining 2004).
• Most cars built by foreign companies, because
leaders wanted foreign investors.
• Cars sold in China have much older equipment
to control emissions than cars sold in Europe or
the United States
• Emissions standards in China are much lower
than in Europe and the U.S.
Statistics in this slide are from China Revs Up 2004 unless otherwise labeled.
Lack of Industrial Controls
• Great economic development during the 1980s led
to increased pollution.
• Demand has risen over time in China and industries
have met this with increased output
• They have not added any controls to the air released
from smokestacks, though.
• By 2020, China’s carbon dioxide emissions will
surpass the U.S., and the United States and China
“would contribute more to global warming than all
other nations combined.”
Statistics in this slide are from China Revs Up 2004 unless otherwise labeled.
Impacts: Air Pollution
• Astronauts can see the smog in China from space
• Smog is so bad in Beijing and Shanghai that the
airports are often shut down due to poor visibility
– This just happened on January 29, 2013
– In January 2013, more than 150 flights to and from Beijing
were canceled due to smog
• Highways have been closed due to smog
• The air quality in Beijing is 16 times worse than NYC
• Sometimes you cannot see the building a few blocks
away
• A blue sky is rare
• In Shanghai, you often cannot see the street from
the 5th floor window
A picture of downtown Hangzhou, China hazy with smog
(Skiba, Tom. Smog in downtown Hangzhou China,
http://cai.blogware.com/blog/Photos/China/_archives/2005/4/27/625887.htm)
Impacts: Air Pollution
 Nearly 30% of respiratory
disease in China is
attributed to air pollution.
 500 major cities in China
exceed safe air quality
levels.
 Acid rain affects more than
30% of the country.
 Over 75% of China’s SO2 pollution, acid rain, and CO2
emissions come from coal combustion.
Air Pollution
• In Nov 2010, China’s EPA published a report
that said 1/3 of 113 cities had failed to meet
the national air standards
• According to the Chinese government, 1/5 of
China’s urban population breathe heavily
polluted air
• Many places smell like high-sulfur coal and
leaded gasoline
China has the most deaths from urban air pollution in the world.
(Worldwatch Institute. Coal, China, and India: A Deadly Combination for Air Pollution?,
http://www.worldwatch.org/features/vsow/2005/12/14)
Effects of Air Pollution
• Evan Osnos lived in Beijing and in The New Yorker he wrote,
– “After four years in Beijing, I have learned how to gauge
the pollution before I open the curtains; by dawn on the
smoggiest days, the lungs ache. “
• The US Embassy in Beijing installed an air monitor on its
roof and every hour on Twitter it posts the score from 1
being the cleanest to 500 the dirtiest
• It is normally around 500 and public health notices are
constantly posted that you should avoid all physical activity
outside.
• The only time any American city ever reached 300 was in
the midst of a forest fire
Effects of Air Pollution
• Up to 656,000 premature deaths each year
– China has the world’s highest number of deaths attributed to air
pollution
– In 2007, the WHO estimated that 656,000 Chinese died prematurely
due to indoor and outdoor air pollution
• Lung cancer is the number one cause of death in China
– it causes premature babies, low-birth weight babies, and depresses
lung functions in healthy people
• Crop damage
– Reduced crop production because the smog blocks sunlight over 2/3
of eastern China where rice and wheat are harvested
• Climate change
Different Air Pollution
• Different colored smog
–Gray: comes from iron deposits blown
from steel mills
–White: comes from the chemical
factories
–Black: comes form the coal mines and
plants
Impact: The Asian Brown Cloud
• The Asian Brown cloud is a brown blanket of smog
that affects all nations of Asia India, China, Japan,
Thailand, etc.
• It can alter the patterns of the Monsoons, reduce
photosynthesis, increase respiratory problems, and
reduce solar radiation.
• Toxic waste, motor vehicles, cooking fuels, and forest
fires contribute to this air pollution
Satellite pictures over much of Asia and the Indian Ocean
show an enormous brown stain hanging in the air
Deforestation
Deforestation
• Forests and Deforestation
• Little conservation of forests in China; much
more in Japan
• Reforestation programs have been unsuccessful
• Substantial forests found in the far north and
along Tibetan border
• China may need to import wood products for
development
Globalization & Diversity: Rowntree,
Lewis, Price, Wyckoff
54
Deforestation
• China’s natural forests have been declining over the last 50
years
• Deserts are forming quickly due to this
• A desert in China will bury an area the size of New Jersey
every five years
• Since 1949, the area that was covered by trees in China was
about 14.4 million Mha
• A few years ago, the forested area in China was only .7 Mha
• Lumber production has grown to accommodate the demands
for the growing population to make furniture
• Despite a logging ban passed in 1999, the damage has already
been done
• China suffers from soil erosion and flooding
Impacts: 2/3 of China’s
Forests Lost, Leading to
Floods and Deserts
Desertification
Desertification
• This is common in China
• During 2003, China’s EPA reported that the Gobi Desert
had grown by 52, 400 km
• About 900 square miles of land each year become desert
in China
• This is due to drought, overgrazing, incorrect use of
ground water, and logging
• Due to this, dust storms and sandstorms are more
common
• Expanding deserts cause China to lose about 1 million
acres of land each year
Desertification
• Every time the desert grows by 2,500 km,
China loses about 2 to 3 billion dollars
annually
• In 2001, a new law was passed to try to
control desertification
– It asked that land occupants plant trees in
areas where deforestation had already
occurred
• And this has begun to slowly help
Over grazing- increase in number of
goat, sheep and cattle
Increasing
desertification, the
Gobi desert expanded
by 52,400 km2 from
1994 to 1999
Winter storms create
enormous dust storms
affecting Korea and
Japan
Soil Erosion
• Affects 19% of land
• As a result of human activity, such as
– Deforestation for agriculture and logging
– Destruction of vegetation (grassland)
– Cultivation on steep slopes
– Drying out of wetlands for agriculture and city develop
Consequences
• Deposition of sediment in the river bed causing more frequent
flooding leading to the deposition of coarse sediment particles and
secondary alkalization
• In one area more than doubling the area of eroded land from the
1960s to 80s
Severity of Human Induced Soil
Degradation
The destruction of agricultural land poses a big problem
for China’s food security
Impacts: 25% of
China’s Land Becoming
Desert
Cars are now taking over the roads
(Engler, Yves & Mugyenyi Bianca. China’s Cars on Road to
Ruin. http://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=2484)
Bicycles once filled the streets of
China
(Wayne, J. Pen. Go Go Speed Racer.
http://www.evolvingtype.com/disabusing/webpage/
words3.htm)
Effects/Impact of All These
Environmental Problems on
China
Consequences Of Environmental
Problems for China’s people
• Socio-economic losses
– $72 mil per year is spend to control just one weed
imported from Brazil for pig forage
– $250 mil in annual loss arising from factory closure due
to shortage of water just in one city
– Sand storm damage app $540 mil/year
– Acid rain damage to crop and forest $730 mil/year
– $6 bil cost of green wall to protect Beijing
– $7 bil/year losses due to desertification
– $7 bil/year due to losses from other alien species
– $27 bil loss due to flood in 1998
– $54 bil/year losses due to water and air pollution
Consequences Of Environmental
Problems for China’s people
• Health cost
– 1996 to 2001 spending on public health incr. by 80%
– App 300,000 death/year due to air pollution
– Lead blood level in cities twice the level considered to be
dangerous
• Natural disasters
– AD300 to 1949 dust storms once every 31 years. Since
1990 almost one every year – soil erosion
– Drought damage about 160,000 km2 of cropland every
year – double the area in 1950s
– Increasing flood frequency
China in the Global Village
• The shear size of China’s population, its landmass and
economy guarantee that its environmental problems will
spread to the rest of the world
• Beneficial and harmful imports
– China importing natural gas and oil– reduces environmental
damage from the use of coal
– Countries transferring pollution-intensive industries to China –
using technology often prohibited in the exporting country
– China paid to accept toxic trash from developed countries
(increased from 1 mio to 11 mio t/p.a. 1990-1997)
• Exports causing damage at home
– Products go abroad but pollution stays at home
China in the Global Village
• Invasive spices exported (chestnut
blight, Dutch elm disease, Asian longhorned beetle)
• Exports air pollution into the
atmosphere
• Exports deforestation. China’s import
of wood has increased 6 fold; mainly
from Malaysia, Papa New Guinea and
Brazil
A Global Issue
• Dust and aerial pollutants already
impact neighboring countries
• Leading importer of tropical
rainforest timber – a driving force
behind tropical deforestation
• What will happen if China achieves
1st world standard of living with 1st
world environmental impact per
capita