While China pursues higher economic growth, pollution problems are on the rise and these problems greatly affect the health of the China citizens. However, the ultimate purpose of economic expansion is to improve people's livelihood. Various forms of pollution have increased as China has industrialized, and has caused a China to become the country which is the largest source of carbon dioxide.
Pros:
More jobs:
•Growth creates new jobs
•Greater business confidence: Growth has a positive impact on profits & business confidence
•Potential environmental benefits – as countries grow richer, they have more resources available to invest in cleaner technologies. And, as nations develop, energy intensity levels fall.
•Improvement in living standards
Cons:
China estimates its carbon-dioxide emissions will continue to rise in the next two decades, peaking in 2030, as it burns more coal and oil to power the world’s fastest-growing major economy. Pollution of coastal waters also worsened from a year earlier. Acid rain was detected in 189 of 443 cities monitored, a level similar to last year.
Air pollution
•cause: more factories to release more harmful gases
•effect: number of people having lung cancer increase
Water pollution
•cause: increasing population and rapid economic growth
•effect: severe water quantity shortages and severe water quality pollution
-500 million people in China are without safe and clean drinking water.
It's the result of two decades of runaway economic development unrestrained by strong air-pollution laws, a dramatic increase in car ownership, and China's overwhelming reliance on coal. China's cities were filled with bicycles as recently as the 1990s, but thanks to the explosive growth of the middle class, the Chinese now own more than 120 million cars and another 120 million motor vehicles of other kinds. China burns almost as much coal as the rest of the world combined. Despite making large investments in renewable energy, China still depends on coal to meet nearly 70 percent of its power needs, while air pollution is almost always bad in northern China.
Should China continue to pursue higher economic growth?
I think China should continue to pursue higher economic growth but at a slower rate. This can continue to create a better condition for the people living in China by improving their standards of living. This allows them to lead better lives as more jobs will be available and more people will have jobs to earn money. China's goal is to improve their economy, but not at the cost of their living environment being polluted. By slowing down their rate of economy development, the rate of pollution will be slowed down. Air and water pollution are the most harmful to the China citizens. They breathe in dangerous and polluted air being released by the factories and this cause many of them to have health problems. Water pollution is another factor that affected the China citizens in a negative way. The quantity of water is important for the people living in China. However, pollution a has caused the water to be not clean and even unsafe for people to drink, affecting many of them. In the long run, China would be unable to solve the problem of water pollution, and would be unable to provide enough clean water for people.
In conclusion, China's economic growth is not supported by the environment and brought many serious problems after the fast speed of industrialization. To create a balance between these two factors, Chinese government should strike a balance and slow down the rate of economic development. After all, the health of the Chinese is at stake and their health should be the most important and taken into consideration first.
More info of the effects and feelings of China citizens:
http://theweek.com/article/index/252440/chinas-massive-pollution-problem
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-27/china-s-air-pollution-worsens-after-economic-growth-rebounds-from-crisis.html
Pros and Cons:
http://tutor2u.net/economics/revision-notes/a2-macro-economic-growth-costs-benefits.html
-Hui Wen
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