Index IntroductionThe Growth of ChinaAir PollutionWater PollutionIntroductionSince the 1970s, China has experienced a period of rapid expansion and growth on a scale never seen before (Bremner, 2006 ). The processes that China has used to grow were widely popularized many years ago during the industrial era of Europe and America, however, the amount of people China can use in its workforce, but also needs to feed , providing housing and also other basic needs was greatly increased regarding the number of population in Europe and America during their industrial ages. To maintain its position as an economic power, China is causing significant damage to its own environment and that of its surrounding neighbors (Stalley, 2009). This damage is being addressed under various forms of pollution, such as the heavy layer of smog in many Chinese cities, the spewing of industrial waste into waterways and lakes, and the cutting down of trees and other vegetation to create more building land . which in turn promotes desertification and dust storms. These three different forms of pollution are very destructive to the natural environment and, if left uncontrolled, will make the lives of Chinese citizens very difficult. The environmental destruction observed in China and the consequences it faces can be explained by the new term ecological debt (Roberts and Parks, 2009). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In simple terms, ecological debt is the point that a country will exceed when the consumption of its resources within its ecosystem, or territories, exceeds the limit of that system's ability to regenerate its natural resources (McKibben, 2011 ). This also applies to non-renewable resources, where the consumption of such resources exceeds the production and acquisition of non-renewable resources. This concept is mainly based on the biophysical carrying capacity of an ecosystem by measuring the ecological footprint of human society; the rate at which the country or society is depleting its natural resources can be determined (Goeminne and Paredis, 2010). Carrying capacity is the maximum population size of a given species that the environment can support. As for China, many speculate that it is causing so much damage to its natural environment that it will not be able to recover and repair it (Goeminne and Paredis, 2010). The main cause of China's environmental damage is its rapid growth and use of coal to power the country (Roberts and Parks, 2009). China's Growth Today, China has a growing economy estimated at $12.6 trillion (Bremner, 2006). This growth was achieved through rapid expansion of the money supply, loan growth and fixed investment. Their economy has also changed from being a closed and command economy to a market-oriented economy that now plays a greater role than China did in the 1970s. One evidence of China's growth is China's position since 2010 as the world's largest exporter and second largest economy, just behind the United States, like most developing countries; coastal areas are developing faster than inland cities. However, with this growth comes some daunting environmental problems, such as the degradation of China's mangrove forests and coral reefs, desertification, deforestation, industrial pollution of rivers, and rising levels of smog in the atmosphere (McKibben , 2011). it was a closed, planned economyCentrally, China has since grown into one of the world's major powers. However, they face problems that only the most developed and largest countries can address, such as ecological debt and a growing ecological footprint. The term ecological debt can mean many things, such as the date one year from now when the world's natural resources will have been depleted and can no longer be reused.replenished by the end of the year (Roberts and Parks, 2009). The term is also used to explain in quantitative and tangible figures the extent of damage done by countries to their surrounding environment (Roberts and Parks, 2009). The main idea behind this is that a country will have to spend the same or more time restoring its natural environment while acquiring the necessary natural resources (Roberts and Parks, 2009). To mirror the prosperity and growth of the West, China rushed to create its own industrial revolution by becoming a leader in many of the major industries that polluted America, Germany, and other Western countries during their own industrial revolutions (Bremner , 2006). Chinese companies, with the aid and support of the state, are major producers of steel, coke, aluminum, cement, chemicals, leather, paper and other goods that would normally face high costs and stricter environmental regulations elsewhere of the world. But these mills expel large particles, smog, sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, and other forms of air pollution into the atmosphere that are very difficult to remove (McKibben, 2011). This is where the idea of ​​ecological debt comes into play. While China is experiencing this tremendous growth in its economy, at what cost does this growth come? It will take years, perhaps decades, to remove pollution from China's atmosphere and repair the damage already done. The use of coal to power China has led to a cornucopia of problems related to air pollution and the health of Chinese citizens. According to the Energy Information Administration, China accounts for 47% of global coal consumption, which is almost equal to that of every single country on Earth combined (Stalley, 2009). Compared to 2011, coal consumption in China grew by 9%. This growing use of coal as an energy source stems from the 200% increase in electricity demand since the beginning of 2000 (Stalley, 2009). Additionally, most coal is used during the winter months in northern China to heat homes. As discussed later in the section on air pollution, cities in northern China have some of the worst air pollution conditions due to the cold, even though the cities are considerably smaller than China's capital, Beijing. However, this does not exclude Beijing from the air pollution problem. Beijing sits in the middle of an industrial belt of coal-burning factories, which undoubtedly produces many days of smog that far exceeds the air quality scale set by the Environmental Protection Agency. For context, an air quality index above 300 means that the air is unsafe to breathe (Zarroli, 2013). Everyone is advised to stay indoors with an air purifier turned on and to remain as still as possible. For a developing country like China, this is impossible. In January of this year alone, there were nineteen days in Beijing that surpassed the 300 mark; the average of all nineteen days turned out to be a rating of around 500. Incredibly, on January 19, the index reached 886, which is like living in a smoking lounge (Stalley, 2009). The manufacturing industries, the above-mentioned establishments whichinvolving the production of steel, coke, aluminum, cement, etc., and Beijing's more than five million cars, all contribute to the air pollution that is slowly invading China's skies. Furthermore, it is important to note that Beijing is not the most polluted city in China. This role falls to the city of Urumqi, in the far west of China; where, as previously mentioned, the increased use of heating appliances significantly affects China's air pollution (Zarroli, 2013). Air Pollution Similar to Russia's problem of controlling a large country, China is having a difficult time imposing new rules and regulations regarding air pollution in China. the western regional area of ​​China. A great example of this is the Qingtongxia Aluminum Group in Qingtongxia, China (French, 2007). In 2005, China announced a national campaign to reduce the country's overall energy consumption by raising electricity prices to discourage growth. West China relies on companies such as Qingtongxia Aluminum Group, which accounts for 10% of Qingtongxia's gross domestic product (French, 2007). To circumvent regulations set by Beijing, Qingtongxia removed the Qingtongxia Aluminum Group from its city's national power grid and instead sourced its electricity directly from the local company. This eliminated the possibility of the company being charged with higher tariffs and also allowed the city of Qingtongxia to continue to receive needed electricity at a low price (French, 2007). This is a recurring problem in China, where the local level conflicts with regulations established at the state level, leading many local governments to not follow state regulations. A more personal example of China's problem with air pollution and smog is the case of an eight-year-old girl from Jiangsu province who, according to the People's Daily, became the youngest person in China to be diagnosed with cancer. to the lungs (Duggan, 2013). His doctor suspects that the lung cancer developed due to rising smog levels and his location on a busy street. She was exposed to PM 2.5 pollution which contained fine particulate matter that can settle deep in the lungs of humans and then enter the bloodstream, making this level of pollution very dangerous for humans (Duggan, 2013). Water Pollution Pollution of rivers and lakes by Chinese industrial players is also a major problem in China's struggle to be more environmentally friendly. Most effluents released into Chinese rivers are untreated and are not naturally dispersed from Chinese rivers (Lallanilla, 2013). Some of the effluents contain carcinogens that cause contaminants such as cadmium. Not only are the rivers polluted, but this pollution reaches the wells that many Chinese citizens use for drinking water. Tests in July 2009 by BioMed Central, a U.K.-based science publisher, found that the well in Shangba, a city in the southern province of Guangdong, contained large amounts of cadmium and zinc, both of which can lead to liver cancer ( Lallanilla, 2013 ). The groundwater that fills these wells is also used for about 40% of China's agriculture. According to Reuters, about 90% of China's groundwater is polluted, while about 60% of all groundwater is severely polluted. One of the effects of air and water pollution in China is the creation of “cancer villages.” These villages are so polluted that even living within the cities runs a huge risk of being diagnosed with cancer (Lyn,2009). High rates of stomach, kidney, colon, and liver cancer appear in some areas throughout China; this high cancer risk area is usually located right next to a heavy industrial complex. Shangba, the city mentioned above in the section on water pollution involving polluted well water, is an example of China's “cancer villages.” According to local citizens, the river that runs through the city changes color from white to orange depending on different types of industrial effluents (Lyn, 2009). Some of the contaminants found in the river include cadmium and zinc, which are known to cause cancer. He Shuncai, a thirty-four-year-old farmer from Shangba, has this to say about the pollution of his town's river: “All the fish are dead, even the chickens and ducks drinking from the river are dead. If you put your leg in water, you will get a rash and terrible itching. Just last year, six people in our village had cancer and they were in their 30s and 40s,” (Lyn, 2009). The Chinese government has relatively ignored these areas; one example occurred last December, when Jin Zengmin offered a $32,000 reward to any local environmental officer who died from swimming in a river in his hometown that Zengmin once swam in as a boy. His reward still stands to this day (Lyn, 2009). many types of air and water pollution that occur in America and other parts of the world, pollution is most severe in China due to lax regulations and almost non-existent response to pollution hotspots and accidents. that result in pollution, such as spills (Lallanilla, 2013). Ultimately, this excessive pollution will slowly kill many Chinese if one were to play devil's advocate, while excessive pollution of the air and water of their cities and. countries is a completely negative consequence, it indirectly solves another area of ​​pollution in China, which is overpopulation. While this doesn't justify killing innocent people, it is similar to the idea put forward by the authors of Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. In chapter four, Steven Levitt explores the role of legalized abortion in reducing crime, where children who are unwanted or whose parents cannot care for them are more likely to become criminals and children born under these conditions are usually less fortunate. In some ways, pollution in China is reducing the amount of people who need food, electricity and heat. One of the major effects of China's disregard for the natural environment is desertification and concomitant sandstorms. Over the past decade, approximately 400 million people in and around China have been and continue to be affected by desertification (Tudela, 2001). Desertification is defined as the process of transformation of arable and cultivable land into desert. This is one of the major environmental problems facing China as it affects transportation, food security and international relations with surrounding countries due to the excessive problem of sandstorms, which can affect South and North Korea , Japan and even across the Pacific. in North America (Tudela, 2001). In central China, the Gobi Desert converts approximately 3,500 square kilometers of arable land into desert each year (Tudela, 2001). There are many underlying causes of desertification, including deforestation, population growth, overgrazing, overuse of water resources, city building, mining, and destruction of vegetation (States Department of Forestry United, 1997). Even though China's population is increasing,there is no need to waste additional space in the desert, where it is difficult to build things citizens need, such as farmland and housing. Another problem related to desertification, deforestation and loss of vegetation is the increased possibility of a sandstorm occurring in China (Tudela, 2001). This not only affects China, but the dust storm has a good chance of spreading to the Korean Peninsula and Japan due to the deforestation and vegetation loss that is also occurring in China (Tudela, 2001). Kim, the exchange student for the South Korea Maritime Academy, brought this idea to the GSMA major's attention when he presented the effect these dust storms have on South Korea. During the dust storm, people are unable to walk or work outdoors without proper protection. This means for China a constant disregard for its own economic growth by surrounding nations as they are the ones who also feel the environmental problems caused by China. Not only is dust a problem, some fear the dust storm could also carry large particles that remain in the atmosphere and pollute the air of several East Asian and Southeast Asian nations. Furthermore, China's dust storms could very likely be the nail in the coffin regarding other East and Southeast Asian countries grouping together under one or more goals to disrupt the monopoly China has on power and trade. Not only is it a problem faced by major Asian countries, but it significantly disrupts their economies and could potentially shut down cities, such as what happened in the city of Harbin, China, where smog pollution was so bad that the city shut down for ensure that people could not go out. Ultimately, China is causing irreplaceable damage to its own environment and the environment of surrounding nations, as seen with the creation of sandstorms. However, China is trying to come up with various laws, regulations and programs to hopefully reduce pollution of its natural environment and to renovate its environment. One program is the removal of old junk cars that pollute the atmosphere with their decrepit technology (Wong, 2013). Another is the creation of the “Green Wall of China,” a long line of trees planted by the government and various environmental groups to prevent the desert from turning arable land into desert (Roberts and Parks, 2009). Even though this practice has solid evidence and research behind it, they are apparently only planting one or two species of trees. This will lead to a grey, sparse “forest” which will not lead to biodiversity. Air and water pollution in China will most likely cause the most damage to their natural environment, due to the severity of the chemicals and pollutants, and because pollution from China is somewhat ignored by Chinese officials. Pollution will not only cause harm to the health of Chinese citizens, but also disrupt China's growth and prosperity that has occurred in recent decades. Different types of pollution affect transportation in China, damage the daily operations of businesses and even cities, reduce the amount of biodiversity and animal life in the area, and most importantly, pollution affects China's fish stocks. With dwindling resources and a resource-hungry population, China has looked elsewhere for natural resources, such as oil and fish. One place China is looking for more raw materials is Africa. Fishing operations are multiplying along the coasts of West Africa and many vessels are causing terrible damage to their fish stocks..