Globalisation and China’s Environmental Problems

1755 Words4 Pages

Is the lifestyle of people in Europe and the USA a major cause of China’s environmental problems?

One of China’s best successes has in turn been one of its biggest downfalls. One of the main problems is China’s greatest success which has been its phenomenal economic growth. This is one of the main drivers of the current environmental problems that the country faces. Factories dump pollutants into the air and water. It is difficult to see the Chinese government making the significant sacrifices required to improve their environment if it means slowing down their economic growth.

In order to understand why China is in such environmental difficulties we need to understand why the lifestyles of people in Europe and the US could be to blame. The first area to consider is the environmental issues that China is currently suffering with. Once this is established I can assert what impact the US and Europe has in relation to these issues and what actually causes them. In linking the events it will be easier to see the chain of events. To do this I am going to work backwards and understand the issues that exist within China and then secondly what they are a result of. This will give me the background of why China’s environmental issues have become so dire.

According to the Worldwatch Institute the rapid industrialization has polluted many lakes and streams resulting in chemical pollution and increased algae blooms leaving the water undrinkable. These combined issues are then causing knock on effects to the aquatic life by staving them of oxygen. Many areas are also suffering with an increase in dust storms; these have been a cause of over agricultural use. These increased storms would not cause many problems but now they can ...

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The Open University (2009) U116 Environment: journeys through a changing world, Block 5, “Changing China”, Milton Keynes, The Open University

China “Unfairly seen as eco-villain”. Web. 16 March 2015

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8100988.stm

Member states of the EU. Web. 16 March 2015

http://europa.eu/abc/european_countries/index_en.htm

The US-China business council, table 7: China’s top trade partners. Web. 16 March 2015

http://www.uschina.org/statistics/tradetable.html

Fast food globalisation, available from http://schoolworkhelper.net/2011/02/fast-food-globalization/ (accessed 19th April 2011)

List of countries by population. Web. 16 March 2015

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population

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