Introduction
Industrialization in China has, for a long time, been synonymous with massive Pollution of the environment and destruction of the earth's ecosystem. The apparent cause for the increase in Pollution in China is the high level of proliferation and the fact that many of the world industries are established in the country. According to Kao (2018), air pollution due to enterprises is the cause of up to one million lives in China every year. Two primary pollutants are the reason for the destruction of up to 20 million tons of rice, maize, and wheat in the country, and this is resulting in a compromise in the quality of life. Despite the high levels of Pollution in the country, China has slowly emerged as a leader in clean energy solutions with the promise of turning around its fortunes and changing the world climate landscape for the better.
Air Pollution in China
Air pollution due to the smoke emanating from China’s thousands of industries running on fossil fuel sheds off more than $38 billion from the Chinese economy every year. This occurs in the forms of loss of food production and death (University of Gothenburg, 2019). Researchers from the Chinese University of Hong Kong established that the use of fossil fuels is the reason for the adverse weather and climatic conditions in the country. This is likely to remain the case for a long time into the future of the country (Kao, 2019). Besides deteriorating the air quality and hence the quality of life, adverse weather conditions are also making it hard for the state to produce any meaningful agricultural produce. This is lowering its overall agrarian output, unable to feed China’s massive population.
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Solar Power Consumption in China
The level of Pollution in China is so adverse that it blocks the solar light from the sun from reaching the solar panels. According to Wood (2019), China remains the largest consumer of solar power in the world as the industries in the country attempt to move from the burning of coal towards the more sustainable use of solar and wind power. Research compiled in the Nature Energy journal indicates that the atmosphere in China is densely populated to the extent that it blocks rays from the sun from reaching the solar panels. This, in turn, hampers efforts to harvest energy from the sun, making it hard for the country to benefit from solar power.
For a long time, the rapid expansion of industries in China was fuelled by coal power. Although it lifted millions of people out of poverty, it also rapidly escalated the levels of air pollution. The average generation of solar power declined by up to 11% in 2018 due to a reduction in the levels of visibility and hence, a reduction in the rate of energy to accessing the solar panels (Kao, 2019). Economic losses signified but one of the losses that accrue from global warming. Long term exposure of the human body to toxic gases increases the likelihood of heart attacks, lung cancer, lung disease, and strokes. The more the population is exposed to such conditions, the more they become susceptible to these health hazards.
The Deteriorating State of Health in the Country
Air pollution remains the fourth largest reason for death in the world after poor diet, high blood pressure, and smoking. While the other forms of health hazards may be self-induced and voluntary due to changes in lifestyle, air pollution is mainly involuntary. Moreover, it inadvertently exposes the population to danger and diseases, even without their volition. Although it is easy to connect air pollution to the large industries in cities, many of the deaths related to air pollution can be linked to gases that emanate from stoves and other pure fuels used in the countrysides. China is actively taking steps aimed at curing the ills of air pollution.
Pollution Incongruent to Economic Growth
The levels of Pollution in China have paralleled economic growth in the nation. According to the University of Gothenburg (2019), even though economic growth has been corresponding to Pollution, there has started to emerge a divide between the two factors that have begun to emerge. Whereas the rate of growth has stagnated, the price of Pollution continues to increase, causing fears among environmental conservationists. The economy of China began expanding in the 1970s. This expansion was followed by several decades of growth and development. Environmental Pollution and degradation kept the same pace with the growth of the economy for a long time. Even though factors that lead to ecological Pollution have begun to decline in China, the rate of greenhouse gas emissions continues to increase at an exponential rate.
The economic growth of the country has come with great sacrifices, and part of these is the compromised quality of life. Although there are slight improvements in the general outlook of the environment, these developments are worth noting and must be understood in retrospect and because of the more excellent Chinese economic disposition. The rates of increase in Pollution in China are reminiscent of the need to solve the rise in greenhouse gas emissions and find lasting solutions for income inequality in the country. Many researchers maintain the position that Pollution and economic progress go hand in hand. However, the connection has become weaker over the years, and there is no indication that it will improve shortly.
China’s Commitment to Combating Air Pollution
The pollution situation in China has been so adverse in the past few years that cities like Beijing have been rendered uninhabitable by the world standards of air pollution. According to Tiezzi (2019), the capital of Beijing, along with other cities in the country, was drowned in smog and stuffy air in 2013, and this led to alarm over the poor quality of air in the country. Although the state media in China referred to such incidences as smog, they had to admit to the high levels of Pollution caused by the country's many industries along with other human-related factors.
Air pollution has, for a long time, been recognized as a health hazard for both humans and domestic animals. Industrial emissions have been known to cause air pollution in the environment, which later deteriorates the quality of life. Moreover, little has been done to help alleviate the condition, and this has primarily been problematic for the human and animal species. Humans have access to ways and means of self-preservation and protection against the adverse effects of air pollutants. On the other hand, wild animals encounter such incidences and have to endure without the assistance of any external factors. According to Newman (1979), global Pollution has widespread effects on the environment, and these typically include a decline in the world population and the ability for humans to procreate.
State intervention in Combating Pollution
At the onset, the government of China was proactive in funding projects and initiatives that were geared towards safeguarding the state of the environment. However, with time, the country has relaxed its funding of the clean energy solutions leading to a decline in the efforts of conserving the environment. According to Standaert (2019), the growth of the wind and solar power energy production in China is slowing down after the government withdrew funding for the projects. An increase in the emission of Carbon dioxide is leading to a rise in the rates of global warming.
The efforts of China in the global campaign against climate change can have tremendous effects on the general world climate because China’s geographical area is expansive, and its population is also voluminous. The slowing growth in renewable energy and the subsequent increase in the use of fossil fuels is making it difficult for the country and the world at large to make any meaningful strides in the area of environmental conservation. Fears abound that the emissions of the country may not level off by the turn of the century.
Compromised Food Production
One-third of the soil in China is already degraded due to the increase in air pollution. The current rate of soil degradation in the country is mostly as a result of the erosion of topsoil. Other pertinent reasons include the practice of unsafe and improper agricultural practices and activities. Deforestation is another essential component affecting the amount of rainfall occurring in the country, and this is another primary reason for the decline in food production.
The rapid growth of the population in China beginning the 1980s resulted in the deterioration of the soil as more population meant the need for more food products to sustain the community. China, as a state environmental protection agency, set up to check the levels of Pollution in the environment. According to the agency, the high levels of Pollution are highly dangerous to the environment and are a significant threat to the ecosystem. Essential aspects like food safety and sustainable agriculture are at considerable risk in the country. Therefore, the growth of the population in China has not only been a burden in terms of environmental conservation, but it has also led to the deterioration of the quality of life.
Universal Declaration for Environmental Protection
China’s policy towards the regulation of industrial Pollution is highly scattered and unstructured. The country lacks substantial commitment towards environmental protection and conservation, as many state officials benefit from the ongoing Pollution through corruption and other underhand dealings. Industrial Pollution has turned cancer into the leading cause of death in the country. Moreover, thousands of citizens die every year due to ambient air pollution in the country. The state agency in charge of monitoring the quality of health notes that thousands of premature deaths occur in the country since mothers are exposed to unclean air during pregnancy, and this leads to contamination in the womb.
Despite all the negative trends in pollution levels and their effects in China, the country leads the world in the production of green energy solutions for use and reuse by the citizens. The end of 2018 saw the country produce more than 730 GW of electricity from the main wind and hydroelectric power. The sector for renewable energy is resultantly growing faster than that of fossil fuel and nuclear energy. Although the atomic system is fronted as having the capacity to create more power, the effects in the genetic formation of the organisms in the environment have been adverse and highly hazardous.
China’s Large Appetite for Energy
Even though China is the largest producer of energy in general, the country requires a large volume of energy that can hardly be satisfied with the energy it produces. By the year 2015, for instance, the state could only meet 24% of its energy needs via domestic production. Most of the remaining power accrues from solar power, and this is the primary reason for rampant air pollution in the country. By the end of 2017, renewable energy accounted for 36% of the total power output in the country. The country has the largest wind power plants in the world, with three-quarters of the plant located in the sea. The country aims to generate more than 210 GW of wind power by the end of 2020 and is in line to become the largest producer of the same.
As of June 2015, China emerged as the world's largest producer of solar power, generating up to 63% of the solar energy in the world. The government of China promotes the generation of solar power. It does this by creating incentives such as the Golden Sun Scheme. This scheme aims to encourage the generation of solar energy by subsidizing and lifting the cost of solar production. The encouragement by the government helped many players in the industry to advance their plans and develop numerous options for solar power. These became known as the milestones for solar for the development of technology and the solar industry in the country.
Conclusion and Personal Views
Overall, China encourages and has schemes specially set out to attract foreign investors to come and invest in the country's green energy solutions. These incentives go out to especially investors from the United States since they are known to have the best technologies in wind power. Despite the large volume of wind energy generated in the country, the use of wind power has not kept pace with the use of the same energy. This is because many of the high-end industries in the country depend on massive volumes of ability to run, and therefore, some of the green energy solutions available prove inefficient. Contrary to popular opinion, the country has made and continues to make great attempts that try to solve the issue of Pollution and provide alternative forms of energy for local consumption. However, the country has an enormous appetite for strength, and this can only be cured by producing even more wind and solar power. Moreover, the state must entirely inhibit and stop the production of nuclear power for it to fully realize an environmentally safe ecosystem.
References
Kao, E. (2019). Air pollution is killing 1 million people and costing the Chinese economy 267 billion yuan a year, research from CUHK shows . Retrieved from https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2166542/air-pollution-killing-1-million-people-and-costing-chinese
Newman, J. (1979). Effects of industrial air pollution on wildlife. Biological Conservation, 15 (7), 181-190.
Standaert, M. (2019). Why China's Renewable Energy Transition is Losing Momentum . Retrieved from https://e360.yale.edu/features/why-chinas-renewable-energy-transition-is-losing-momentum
Tiezzi, S. (2019). Is China Winning Its War on Pollution? Retrieved from https://thediplomat.com/2019/07/is-china-winning-its-war-on-pollution/
The University of Gothenburg. (2019). Environmental Pollution in China decreases . Retrieved from https://phys.org/news/2019-09-environmental-pollution-china-decreases.html
Wood, J. (2019). China's Pollution is so harmful it is blocking sunlight from solar panels . Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/08/china-air-pollution-blocks-solar-panels-green-energy
