China's Impact on the Envoirement

China’s rapid growth is now a driving force in the global economy. However, growth is also seriously damaging the environment. The country’s environmental problems include deteriorating water, quality, severe air pollution and land deterioration. (www.index-china.com ) Unlike China, Canadians recognize the importance of a clean and healthy environment. This is why Canada was ranked number 3 on the Environment sustainability index, and China was ranked number 133. (www.yale.edu/esi/)

China is the World’s 3rd largest consumer of coal and oil. In many cases old and inefficient machinery is used to burn these fuels. (www.csmonitor.com ) As a result, China experiences severe air pollution that has a significant impact throughout the region. It is also the World’s second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. (www.csmonitor.com) Canada has substantial renewable resources that can be used to produce energy. Hydroelectricity is the most important renewable energy source in Canada, providing about 59 percent of Canada’s electricity. (www.pollutionwatch.org) In fact, Canada is the second largest producer of hydroelectricity in the world. (www.pollutionprobe.org)

This is a graph showing where Canada's electricity comes from. According to this graph a large portion of Canada’s total electricity comes from hydro.

One of China’s largest environmental problems is water pollution. (www. chinagreenspace.blogspot.com) Thousands of paper mills cement factories, and chemical plants poured toxic chemicals into the water. These chemicals killed the fish and removed all the oxygen from the water. ( www.chinadaily.net ) 320 million people lack access to clean drinking water; over 70 percent of lakes and rivers are polluted. (www.chinadaily.net)Water pollution not only effects the environment, but also impacts public health. Today China has a growing cancer rate. (www.reuters.com) Nearly 100,000 people die annually from water pollution-related illnesses in China, and 75 percent of disease comes from water quality issues. (www.who.int)On the other hand Canada has one of the world’s safest drinking water. After the Walkerton tragedy that occurred on May 2000, the Canadian government created stricter laws to control water purity. (www.oag-bvg.gc.ca) Canada’s drinking water is constantly tested, and it is considered to be safer to drink than bottled water.

This picture shows a polluted lake in urban China. The lake gets its green colour from pollutants dumped into the water by the industrial sector.

Land degradation is a global issue that afflicts China more than most countries. 37 percent of China's total land suffers from land degradation. (www.populationasia.org) Degradation including soil erosion, deforestation, an increase of salt content in soil,