WATER POLLUTION IN CHINA. Chinese Pollution Census Reveals Greater Reach of Water Contamination. Pacific Environment : Water Pollution. About Us Contact Blog Sign up for updates Home Share This Search Take Action Help Us End Oil Drilling in the Arctic Ocean—For Good! All Updates Updates 04.04.2014 Standing on Sacred Ground: Pilgrims and Tourists 04.02.2014 Building a Cleaner Energy Future in China from the Bottom Up 03.31.2014 Update: U.S.
Issues Climate ChangeFreshwaterBiodiversityOceansEnergyCommunities. The Environment and China Water and Air Pollution:Water and Health. Environmental problems in China. Air pollution Respiratory and heart diseases related to air pollution are the leading cause of death in China. While some progress has been achieved in improving energy efficiency and carbon dioxide emissions reduction, 75% of energy production is still dependent on coal. Meanwhile, demand for automobiles is growing fast. Various studies estimate pollution costs the Chinese economy about 7-10% of GDP each year. Water pollution Decades of waste poured from factories and cities into China's rivers have turned many of them into open sewers. About 40% of the water in the country's river systems has a quality index of 3 or worse, meaning that it is unfit for human consumption.
The water quality of major lakes (including reservoirs) and urban lakes is also relatively poor, with many suffering algal blooms and eutrophication. AIR POLLUTION IN CHINA. {*style:<b> </b>*} China's environmental protection ministry published a report in November 2010 which showed that about a third of 113 cities surveyed failed to meet national air standards last year. According to the World Bank 16 of the world’s 20 cities with the worst air are in China. According to Chinese government sources, about a fifth of urban Chinese breath heavily polluted air.
Many places smell like high-sulfur coal and leaded gasoline. Only a third of the 340 Chinese cities that are monitored meet China’s own pollution standards. China’s smog-filled cities are ringed with heavy industry, metal smelters, and coal-fired power plants, all critical to keeping the fast-growing economy going even as they spew tons of carbon, metals, gases, and soot into the air. Only 1 percent of the China’s 560 million city dwellers breath air considered safe by European Union standards according to a World Bank study.
Coal is the number once source of air pollution in China. Websites and Resources. Air pollution could become China's biggest health threat, expert warns | Environment. Air pollution will become the biggest health threat in China unless the government takes greater steps to monitor and publicise the dangers of smog, the country's leading respiratory disease specialist warned this week. Lung cancer and cardiovascular illnesses are already rising and could get worse in the future because of factory emissions, vehicle exhausts and cigarette smoke, Zhong Nanshan, the president of the China Medical Association, told the Guardian. The outspoken doctor – who won nationwide respect for revealing the cover-up of the Sars epidemic in 2002 – said the authorities are starting to learn the lessons of past health crises by being more transparent about the risks posed by contaminated air.
Unless there is more openness, he said, public trust will be eroded. "Air pollution is getting worse and worse in China, but the government data showed it was getting better and better. People don't believe that. Earlier this month, the government promised to be more open. Worsening air pollution costs China dearly: study. Chinese air pollution: Clearing the air? No longer a blue-sky day IT WAS China's former leader, Deng Xiaoping, who urged his countrymen to “seek truth from facts”. But for the many in China who distrust government data, that sage advice can be hard to follow. In the case of official reports about the improving air quality in Chinese cities, however, taking Mr Deng's advice is easier. To evaluate a specious government report of yet another “blue-sky day”, you need only look out the window, sniff the air, or—for the brave—take a deep breath.
In Beijing recently the facts have been speaking for themselves. Smog is often so bad that residents cannot see buildings just across the street, schools cancel outdoor activities and the airport cannot operate. For those who do not trust their own burning eyes and scratchy throats, other sources of information are available. China's failure until now to report on PM 2.5 has been an important source of the discrepancies between official reports and the acrid, airborne reality. China to Release More Data on Air Pollution in Beijing. Anger Grows Over Air Pollution in Beijing. Clean Air A 'Luxury' In Beijing's Pollution Zone. Hide captionThese photos show pollution in Beijing on Dec. 5 (top), compared to a blue sky day (bottom) on Aug. 18. In recent weeks, heavy pollution — caused by coal-fired power plants and vehicle emissions — has led to hundreds of flight cancellations and road closures.
Long-term exposure is leading to serious health costs. Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images These photos show pollution in Beijing on Dec. 5 (top), compared to a blue sky day (bottom) on Aug. 18. In recent weeks, heavy pollution — caused by coal-fired power plants and vehicle emissions — has led to hundreds of flight cancellations and road closures. Long-term exposure is leading to serious health costs. On the way to school, my kids and I play a guessing game: How polluted is the air today? These days, chances are that it could well be. Living inside the pollution zone, those daily measurements determine how my family spends its days. Differences In Measurement Louisa Lim/NPR Unhealthy Levels, Even Indoors The High Health Costs. Beijing Pollution at “Crisis Level” | China Power. Beijing’s air pollution has hit crisis levels, says one official. Will the govt change the way it measures air quality? No one who has visited Beijing recently will be surprised to learn that pollution in the capital has been so bad that the air quality monitoring system used by the U.S.
Embassy here has described the pollution as being off the scale. It’s little wonder that a city official has reportedly just described the air quality as having reached “crisis level.” On the morning of December 5, I thought it was snowing when I first looked out my window. I checked the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau’s reading. So I checked with other media sources, and found that most were instead using air monitoring data from the U.S. The index used by the U.S. Disappointingly, the bureau is resisting such pressure, despite the fact that informing the public would allow people to be more aware of the health risks and take necessary precautions. China's Health and Environment: Water scarcity, water pollution, and health.