While the pace and level of China’s climb as an industrial power goes unmatched, the country has greatly surpassed the norm when it comes to pollution problems. Cancer is now the main cause of death in China. While hundreds of thousands of people a year in China die due to air pollution, almost half don’t have access to clean drinking water. Huge amounts of energy are required to sustain the growth of heavy industry, almost all of that comes from coal, which also happens to be the dirtiest source. The sun is rarely visible in some of China’s industrial cities, and lead poisoning causes sickness and death among children. The industrialization has also lead to water shortages that put farmland at risk of desertification. Since some cities don’t want their industrial growth hindered, they refuse to accept compulsory carbon dioxide emission limits. The rapid industrialization has taken a toll on China’s land, air, and water, a lot of which was already damaged by years of Stalinist economic planning that put an emphasize on urban areas establishing heavy industry. China’s industries use a lot more energy than those in other countries; by itself, the aluminum industry uses as much energy as the nation’s commercial sector – which includes all the hotels, restaurants, banks and shopping malls – combined.
-Gerald
