I
n the
article written by the WWF, Environmental Problems in China, it is expressed
how this economic superpower has started to effect the land, air, and water of
the country. For starters, China has the largest population of people in the
world, approximately one billion, so naturally the resources used by this
country starts to add up over time. Many other countries have to keep up with
the demands form the Chinese market by logging, fishing and hunting.
Hydrological engineering projects interrupt the flow of rivers and they convert
wetlands for agriculture, construction, and infrastructure projects. Both of
these actions ruin ecosystems and drive species from their homes. Large areas
of the forests in China have been cleared and the wood used for fuel, leaving
many Pandas homeless. Out of all the species that are critically endangered,
about ¼ live in China, where excessive hunting of wildlife is very serious. In
China, the leading cause of death is heart and lung diseases caused by the air
pollution and about 75% of China’s energy comes from coal. EU Trade
Commissioner Peter Mandelson says, “China produces a new coal-fired power
station every week, and will be the world’s biggest emitter of carbon-dioxide
by 2030.” Lots of waste from factories and cities is poured into the rivers,
making about 40% of the water in China’s unfit for human consumption. The water
quality of lakes and reservoirs is also poor. About 30% of the land in China
has been turned into desert by desertification and up to 5 billion tons of soil
is lost every year.
Personally,
I think that this problem is very distressing and needs immediate attention. In
class, we learned that many organisms depend greatly on their habitat and
without it, survival can be a challenge. This goes for many species in China
that are critically endangered and are living with polluted air, water, and
destroyed ecosystems. I have had knowledge of the environmental problems in
China for a while, but I have also heard that some groups are taking action to
try to clean up the country. I think that this article clearly stated all of
the pressing problems in this country that need to be addressed by the public
and it is convincing that change needs to be made.
I have also heard about the pollution in China many time in the past few years and agree with you that we should help out. I think that human, animal and plant life is very important all over the world and we should try to save it whenever we can. I like how you included a direct quote from the EU Trade Commissioner to give your readers an inside look on China and what really is going on there. I was also thinking about other countries and if they were worse than China because there are many other countries that pollute including the United States. Some of your facts and sentences were a little confusing to read and understand. But other than that, you did great!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your post and that we should help with China's pollution problems, though I hadn't heard much about this before reading your post. This is a terrible problem that is happening and I agree that it needs immediate attention. If Environmentalists don't pay attention to this soon, some of the endangered species in China may become extinct from these environmental issues. I like how you gave your personal opinion on this matter when you said you thought the pollution problem was distressing, but I feel the title could have been more eye-catching. Also, maybe you could have divided the information into a few more smaller paragraphs instead of two big ones to make the article seem shorter. Your information and opinion was very well done, though, and overall you did a great job.
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