China And The Environment

[Amadeus]

An article on Spiegel International, the English website of a well respected German magazine, published in light of the recent chemical plant catastrophe in China makes for some very disturbing reading:

 

THE WORLD'S TOXIC WASTE DUMP

 

It's too long to quote it all, but well worth reading - Some quotes from it:

 

- About 100 tons of toxic chemicals have been floating down the Songhua River ever since the recent explosion

- According to official statistics, 350 Chinese die each day in industrial accidents, but the unofficial figure is likely to be much higher

- Five of the world's 10 most polluted cities are in China

- More than two-thirds of all Chinese rivers and lakes are turning into sewers

- more than 360 million people have no access to clean drinking water

- To meet its rapidly growing demand for energy, the government is building coal power plants, with more than 500 planned for the next few years....."Because energy is so scarce, the Chinese are now burning anything that looks like coal", complains a German environmental expert.

- About 400,000 people die prematurely each year because of the polluted air they breathe. Experts estimate the annual loss at 8 to 15 percent of the gross domestic product -- or up to $250 billion -- a figure that does not include the costs of treating cancer, skin conditions and bronchitis.

 

Maybe the world should focus more on the down sides of China's economic miracle - if things continue like this, then the US of A will soon look like tree huggers next to the frighteningly high amount of pollution China is putting out..

 

From above article:

 

Pan Yue, the deputy minister of government environmental agency SEPA, predicted a bitter end to the economic miracle. "This boom will soon come to an end", he said in an interview with SPIEGEL, "because the environment isn't cooperating anymore."

 

I knew that China's rapid rise would come at a price, but this is just scary...

[Lonan3]

There is a very low price put on lives to support their 'economic miracle.'

 

BBC: 28 November, 2004

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4049253.stm

 

Includes statements such as -

 

In the first nine months of this year, 4,153 people died in mining accidents in China, say official figures.

 

In May 2002, according to China's official media, 21 miners were trapped by an explosion in a mine in the north-west of the country. But instead of attempting to rescue them, the mine's owner destroyed employee records and whitewashed over scorch marks, leaving them to die.