Environmental Issues in China: Air Pollution, Water Pollution, Desertification

This essay discusses the environmental issues in China, including air pollution, water pollution, and desertification. It explores the causes and effects of these issues and the steps being taken to mitigate them.

Running Head: ENVIRONMENTAL GEOGRAPHY 1
Environmental Geography
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

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Introduction
For the purpose of writing this essay, we shall consider environmental issues in China.
China is a country of around 1.3 billion people and is located in the far east. Over the past two
decades, China has been undergoing rapid economic and industrial growth. Many industries have
either opened plant operations or moved their production facilities to China (Mervin, 2017). This
has been partly due to the availability of a huge market and plenty of cheap labor.
However, industrial growth has come with its fair share of challenges. Environmental
experts attribute some of the current environmental phenomena being experienced in China
mainly due to environmental pollution from industrial plants (Guan, Zheng, & Zhong, 2017).
Massive amounts of pollutants are released daily from these factories and emitted in the open air.
Economic growth has also resulted in the improvement of peoples lives, resulting into higher car
ownership and consequently more air pollution. In the topics below, we shall discuss these and
more environmental issues in China and steps being taken to mitigate these concerns.
Discussion
Air Pollution
Air pollution is the release of harmful substances into the atmosphere. This is by far the
biggest environmental change that China is facing . Over the years, due to an expanding
manufacturing sector, hundreds of factories have been setup in mainland China. Of concern
however, is the continued use of coal as a fuel for production of energy for use in factories.
Many experts attribute the high levels of air pollution in China to these coal power plants. China
burns nearly 50% of all the world’s coal (Clemente, 2019). Additionally, due to economic
growth, many Chinese have had their economic situations improved. Current reports indicate that

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at least 800 million Chinese citizens have been uplifted from poverty (Allison, 2018). This
economic growth can be linked with the increase in automobile ownership in China. Beijing
alone is populated by over 5 million automobiles. Exhaust fumes released by these vehicles have
contributed to air pollution. The levels of pollution are measured on a scale by the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), which has set a limiting value of 300 above which air quality is not
safe to breathe. In early 2013, the situation of air quality was so bad in China, that this values
were exceeded and the readings on the air quality were up to 500 (Lallanilla, 2013).
The effects of air pollution cannot be understated. Over the past few years, images of
Chinese cities covered in haze and heavy smog have attracted global attention. Many residents
have resulted to using dust masks with an intent of filtering the polluted air of suspended
particles. Reports also indicate that effects of air pollution are causing about 1 million premature
deaths (directly and indirectly) and costing the China billions of dollars (Kao, 2018). Others
who breath in the invisible particles contract lung or cardiovascular diseases. Ground level ozone
which is formed due to air pollution can reduce photosynthesis in pants resulting into stunted
growth. Accumulation of some of the pollutants in the atmosphere, prevent the reflection of
some of the sun’s radiation contributing to global warming.
The concerns about air pollution have caught the attention of the Chinese authorities, who
have begun to take steps aimed at reducing the levels of air pollution. Numerous policies and
laws have been adopted with the goal of reducing emission of air pollutants and green house
gases. An example of such actions includes the Environmental Protection Law (2015) and the
Law on Creating Clean Production (2012). Apart from these policies and legislations, China has
began investing in clean and environmentally friendly sources of energy. This can be evidence
by the recent completion of the construction of the 3 Gorges Dam, the world’s largest

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hydroelectric dam that will produce over 22,000 MW of electricity (Perlman, 2016).
Additionally, the Chinese government has invested heavily in the setting up of solar power
plants. These efforts are aimed at reducing the reliance on coal for the production of electricity.
The results of these and many other steps being taken may have the effect of reducing the overall
air pollution in China over time.
Water Pollution
Though not highly recognized as compared to air pollution, water pollution in China is
proving to be a ticking time bomb. Reports indicate that nearly half of China’s water sources are
so polluted that they are unfit for human consumption even after being treated. Additionally,
nearly 25% of the water is so polluted that it is not even suitable for industrial use. This indicates
a dire situation that may be in need of attention from the Chinese authorities. The main causes of
water pollution are industrial and agricultural waste (Hsu, 2014). In January 2013, an accident in
China led to the contamination of Huangpu river with benzene which is carcinogenic. The result
was more than 20 people were hospitalized while thousands of pigs were reported dead. Water
pollution is so bad that it has contributed to the occurrence of gastrointestinal cancer in some
remote villages in China (Hsu, 2014).
The pollution can be attributed to the laxity of the Chinese authority to crack down on
industries that dispose their toxic waste in rivers. In 2011,reports emerged that a leading
chemical manufacturer in China had disposed over 5000 tones of toxic waste into a nearby river
that provides drinking water for the surrounding residents (Tingting, 2017). Despite these
actions, the local authorities to no action to regulate or monitor the release of chemical waste by
the company into the river. Additionally the standards of treatment of sewage is considered low
compared to international best practices. This compounds the situation further as the wastewater

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is sometimes used in homes or industries and may find its way in less contaminated sources
hence furthering pollution.
The Environmental Protection Law which took effect in 2015, provides a framework
upon which the authorities in China with a framework of monitoring and regulating the release
of waste into water sources (Webber, 2017). The law gives the government more power than
they previously had including the issuing of larger fines to offenders. Additionally, local
residents are allowed to file law suits against ant organization that pollute the water sources in
the name of public interest. In 2014, the Chinese government committed $330 billion to tackle
water pollution. The Chinese government has also set water quality level targets to be achieved
over a period of time. All these factors indicate some level of seriousness by the Chines
authorities to tackle water pollution but questions still arise of the availability of institutional
capacity to tackle water pollution
Desertification
China is grappling with rapid desertification and soil erosion. Intensive agriculture,
population pressure has contributed to deforestation in China over the years. Many previously
forested areas have now been converted into farmlands to feed the more than 1 billion citizens.
The rapid deforestation in China has triggered the United Nations Environmental Program
(UNEP) to list it’s forests as endangered and are required to be protected. These actions have led
to the slow but sure desertification of large areas in China. Some reports indicate that up to 2.6
million sq. km are under desertification (Smith, 2018). Furthermore, deforestation has also led to
the exposure of the top soil. This coupled with intensive farming has contributed to rapid soil
erosion. Blinding dust storms are common place in some regions in China. This can be attributed
to exposure of the soil cover due to deforestation and intensive agriculture.

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To tackle this issue, the Chinese government has resulted to reforestation. The
afforestation process has been conducted under the framework of the Green Great Wall of China.
The purpose of this long standing project is to prevent the expansion of the desert into the
grassland. Despite these efforts, desertification continues to increase in many parts of China. The
country is also investing in sustainable agriculture with an aim of reducing deforestation for
agricultural purposes. Additionally, the National Action Program encourages private
organizations to partner with the government to combat desertification (Qian, 2018).
Conclusion
China is facing massive environmental challenges despite its rapid economic growth.
Demand for cheap goods from China has driven the industrialization which has largely
contributed to the rise of air and water pollution. China is suffering at the expense of other
countries by feeding into their growing demands of commodities. To combat the above
mentioned environmental issues, China has been carrying out legislative reforms in the areas of
environmental protection. This includes giving institutions more oversight powers, setting
higher standards for emissions and proposing tougher sanctions to those who violate these rules
and regulations. Despite all this improvements, much more needs to be done by China so as to
tackle the environmental challenges that it is grappling with. The capacity of oversight
institutions has to be improved so as to ensure that all regulations are strictly enforced and any
non compliance is accompanied with the requisite sanctions. Additionally, China needs to do
away with Coal power plants in the near future and adopt more sustainable sources of energy.
The current efforts to do this are commendable and have to be increased.

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