China has been growing fast, especially economic growth. Due to the increasing industrialization, it has caused a problem - a escalating pollution. According to the World Bank in 2007, 16 of the world's 20 most polluted cities are in China.
The following are some examples of economic costs of pollution. A 2006 Chinese green gross domestic product estimate stated that pollution in 2004 cost 3.05% of the nation's economy.
A 2007 World Bank and SEPA report estimated the cost of water and air pollution in 2003 to 2.68% or 5.78% of GDP depending on if using a Chinese or a Western method of calculation.
A 2009 review stated a range of 2-10% of GDP.
A 2012 study stated that pollution had little effect on economic growth which in China's case was largely dependent on physical capital expansion and increased energy consumption due to the dependency on manufacturing and heavy industries. China was predicted to continue to grow using energy-inefficient and polluting industries. While growth may continue, the rewards of this growth may be opposed by the harm from the pollution unless environmental protection is increased.
In China, there are a widespread amount of pollution such as waste, electronic pollution, industrial pollution, air pollution etc.
- According to the Chinese Ministry of Health, industrial pollution has made cancer China’s leading cause of death.
- Every year, ambient air pollution alone killed hundreds of thousands of citizens.
- 500 million people in China are without safe and clean drinking water.
- Only 1% of the country’s 560 million city dwellers breathe air considered safe by the European Union, because all of its major cities are constantly covered in a "toxic gray shroud". Before and during the 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing was "frantically searching for a magic formula, a meteorological deus ex machina, to clear its skies for the 2008 Olympics."
- Lead poisoning or other types of local pollution continue to kill many Chinese children.
- A large section of the ocean is without marine life because of massive algal blooms caused by the high nutrients in the water.
- The pollution has spread internationally: sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides fall as acid rain on Seoul, South Korea, and Tokyo; and according to the Journal of Geophysical Research, the pollution even reaches Los Angeles in the USA.
- The Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning in 2003 had an internal and unpublished report which estimated that 300,000 people die each year from ambient air pollution, mostly of heart disease and lung cancer.
- Chinese environmental experts in 2005 issued another report, estimating that annual premature deaths attributable to outdoor air pollution were likely to reach 380,000 in 2010 and 550,000 in 2020.
- A 2007 World Bank report conducted with China's national environmental agency found that "...outdoor air pollution was already causing 350,000 to 400,000 premature deaths a year. Indoor pollution contributed to the deaths of an additional 300,000 people, while 60,000 died from diarrhea, bladder and stomach cancer and other diseases that can be caused by water-borne pollution." World Bank officials said "China’s environmental agency insisted that the health statistics be removed from the published version of the report, citing the possible impact on 'social stability'".
These are some statistics of China.
- The top five environmentally friendly cities: Haikou, Zhuhai, Zhanjiang, Guilin, Beihai[40]
- The top five cities with most effective pollution controls: Nantong, Lianyungang, Shenyang, Suzhou, Fuzhou[40]
- The 10 cities with worst air quality: Linfen, Yangquan, Datong, Shizuishan, Sanmenxia, Jinchang, Shijiazhuang, Xi An, Zhuzhou,Luoyang[40]
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