PICTURE CHINA

Pollution

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As a result of the rapid industrialization of the past decades and loose regulations on emissions, China has become one of the world’s biggest polluters. In fact, a recent study by the World Bank found that China was home to sixteen of the twenty most polluted cities in the world.

China’s pollution is having a devastating impact on its citizens. An estimated 300,000 people die each year as a result of respiratory illnesses caused by air pollution and most of China’s waterways are heavily polluted from the dumping of untreated human waste as well as toxic waste from coal and chemical plants. Half of the country’s population has to contend with contaminated drinking water and acid rain is having a negative impact on crop yields in many areas. Meanwhile, clouds of smog envelope many of China’s cities making blue skies a thing of the past.

The main cause of China’s pollution problem is the heavy consumption of coal which is used for everything from creating electricity to cooking and heating in Chinese homes. With a growing number of vehicles on the road, expanding urban populations all over the country and new factories opening daily, pollution seems to be a problem that will get worse before it gets better.

5 Comments so far

  1. sylvainman October 24th, 2006 9:57 pm

    Hi Dan, you’re right the Chinese pollution is a big problem. But it is hard to criticise China when the United States don’t do anything to curb the pollution at home !

  2. PICTURE CHINA » Picture China February 6th, 2007 2:22 am

    […] The project is in the form of a photoblog and is easily navigated by using the archives section to view individual posts. You may also use the categories to focus in on a particular city (Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, etc.), theme (minority groups, rural china, architecture, etc.), focus (religion, urban poverty, pollution, tourism, etc.) or region (north, south, east, west). For a quick overview of the project the “best of” section is particularly useful. To view the entire project, click here. […]

  3. miss health June 10th, 2008 3:30 am

    its a dirty place .sorry………

  4. lili October 11th, 2008 3:47 am

    cool

  5. ricky October 11th, 2008 4:15 am

    Economic Dvelopment cannot build on pollution and people’s heath.

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