The issue of environmental pollution has become a concern in all the developed and developing countries. As the countries strive to reach their industrialization level, the environment worsens. For example the environmental challenges in China have become so severe and centralized. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the challenges lie at the heart of the country’s identity. The government also aims at providing for the citizens and helps them cope with and fight the environmental challenges¹. The government facilitates the improvement in material living standards of the people of China. This essay will focus and discuss the environmental challenges in China, the causes and how environmental pollution affects the people¹.

Flooding in China

In my research, weather has appeared to be the main cause of flooding in China. People in China happen to prefer flooding areas without considering the negative effects that the floods have in their lives. Hence it happens that the areas that experience floods are the most populated areas in the country. The high populations in such areas increase the ability of the areas to be struck by floods. Crowded areas have increased surface run-off that flows to the rivers causing the breaking of their banks, hence flooding. Places with high populations need to be watched carefully to ensure that help is always give whenever it is needed.² Floods have a lot of negative effects to the lives of the people.

1. Dongping, Yang. The China Environment Yearbook, Volume 5: State of Change. BRILL, 2011
2. Lee, Andrew. 21^st Century China: China Flood.

The major effects are the loss of lives, and destruction of property. Floods also are an environmental challenge since they wipe away the vegetation and crops that support the beauty of the nature.

Air Pollution

According to research, the air pollution in China has been considered to be one of the worst. The increased air pollution in China has caused the big population of china several respiratory diseases. Women in China are the most affected by the air pollution with the highest rates of lung cancer.³In most cases it happens to women who live near industrialized areas. The increased air pollution in china is caused by mostly its increased production activities of their industries. During the production, the industries emit smoke that has sulfur dioxide in the air which is harmful to the human body when inhaled. China also relies heavily on coal for their energy production. This also has played a big part in the polluting of air in China. The combustion of coal sends some unwanted gasses and smoke to the air and smoke which may lead to the greenhouse effect apart from air pollution³.Manufacturing industries and cars also play a major role in the pollution of air in China. Most experts have blamed the coal-burning that produces their energy and highly support their economic growth⁴.The emission of sulfur dioxide causes acid rain, which cause corrosion of the building and iron sheets apart from pulmonary and respiratory diseases.

3. Day, Kristen. China’s Environment and the Challenges of Sustainable Development. M.E Sharpe,2005
4. Lallanilla, Marc. China’s Top Six Environmental Concerns. March 15, 2013.

Water Pollution

                 Millions of people in China find it difficult to find enough water for their use. Factories have also been forced to close down due to water scarcity in the Country. With the water being scarce, we find that pollution of the available water is very high. The major source of water pollution being industrial wastes from paper mills, chemical plants and other manufacturing industries. These plants dispose their waste in the water reserves, rivers and other sources of water⁵. More than half of the drinking water in China has been contaminated with human and animal feces.

China is one of the leading countries in the consumption of nitrogen fertilizers in its agriculture. When it rains, these nitrogen fertilizers are carried away by the surface run-off into the rivers and other water reserves. The findings of the research is that the seven largest rivers in China have all been severely polluted⁶.Oil spillage from the pipelines that run under the sea also has greatly caused water pollution in China. China relies on water very much in production of grain. Most of the grins come from irrigation schemes. The excessive use of water in a lot of China’s production activities has led to the water-availability issues⁷. The continued deforestation in China has also affected the water sources of China extensively. Destruction of forest also may lead to flooding and soil erosion.

5. Kan, Hoidan. Environment and Health in China: Challenges and Opportunities. 117(12), 2009 Dec, P530-P531
6. Shapiro, Judith. China’s Environmental Challenges. John Wiley & Sons, 2013
7. Imura, Hisefumi. Environmental Issues in China Today. Springer Science & Business Media, 2013.

Population

Population growth is another environmental issue that China faces. Over the last decades it has been noticed that the China population has doubled, a limit that has never been reached by any other country in the world⁸.The increased population growth led to China implementing a policy that allowed a household to have only one child as an approach to address the population issue. The increasing population comes with improved standards of living. This puts strain on the available food, housing, and the means of transportation. The increasing population also poses a threat as a pollution factor⁹.Population increase has reduced generalization of privatization, and the improvement in grain harvest to the level of marginal grains.

There has been environmental degradation in China as a result of increase in population density. The land that was once being used for irrigation and the land under vegetation have been turned to human settlement areas. The vegetation acted as rainfall attractions sites and released oxygen into the air hence helping fight air pollution. There is an increased and a high possibility of flooding since the vegetation that offered resistance to surface run-off has been removed¹⁰.The high population, also bring a problem in the food supply sector.

8. Sinding, Steven and Rampal, S.S. Population Growth and Environmental Issues. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996.
9. Gallagher, Sean. Meltdown: China’s Environment Crisis. Pulitzer Centre, 2013.
10. Economy, Elizabeth: China’s Environmental Challenge: Political, Social and Economic Implications, 2003, January 2

The government is forced to facilitate increased food production that would cater for the big population. It calls for increased water use and pollution since chemicals that would facilitate quantity production of food are used. The increased population has led to an increased group of ageing people in the society. This has posed a problem to the country and especially the members of the family in taking care of the ageing^9. Large populations also play a major role in the environmental pollution since the manufacturing of vehicles that emit gases increase.

In conclusion, with the rapid increase in population in China, the environment will continue to worsen if the appropriate measures are not taken. The most affected group of people being women and children. To be specific, children suffer from severe respiratory disease and pregnant mothers also acquire bacteria’s that may affect their pregnancies.

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