Preview

Water Problems in china

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
897 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Water Problems in china
I. Chinese Economy
The remarkable growth in China’s population and economy over the past several decades has come at a tremendous cost to the country’s environment. China has experienced an economic growth rate averaging 10 percent per year for more than 20 years. But sustained growth and the health of the country are increasingly threatened by environmental deterioration and constraints, particularly around water. Water is critical for economic growth and well-being; conversely, economic activities have an impact on water availability and quality. When water resources are limited or contaminated, or where economic activity is unconstrained and inadequately regulated, serious social problems can arise. And in China, these factors have come together in a way that is leading to more severe and complex water challenges than in almost any other place on the planet.
II. Water Problems and Possible Solutions
China’s water resources are over allocated, inefficiently used, and grossly polluted by human and industrial wastes, to the point that vast stretches of rivers are dead and dying, lakes are cesspools of waste, groundwater aquifers are over-pumped and unsustainably consumed, uncounted species of aquatic life have been driven to extinction, and direct adverse impacts on both human and ecosystem health are widespread and growing. Of the 20 most seriously polluted cities in the world, 16 are in China. The major watersheds of the country all suffer severe pollution. Three hundred million people lack access to safe drinking water. Desertification, worsened by excessive withdrawals of surface and groundwater, is growing in northern China.
Some of the water problems that China is facing are:
• 700 million people consume contaminated water
• 40% of the Chinese water is polluted. And 50% of that water is so severely dangerous, that even contact with the water is hazardous to health.
• 108 Chinese cities have severe water shortages
• 45% Chinese land is irrigated,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Water pollution can cause many illnesses and diseases to the human population that could possibly be fatal.…

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Environmental conditions are suffering dramatically due to the overwhelming amount of pollution China generates. Chinas ability to sustain such pollution by setting regulations and enforcing such regulations has not kept up with the growth of China. Such pollutions are air pollution, diminishing biodiversity, fisheries deletion, invasive species, land degradation, soil erosion, and water pollution and shortages. Health conditions have improved increasing life expectancy and decreasing infant and maternal deaths. However, hospitals are…

    • 1424 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    China's Water Crisis Dbq

    • 319 Words
    • 2 Pages

    It is true that there are factors contributing to China’s water scarcity because there is too high of a demand for water and the price is so low people can just buy more and it won’t affect their budget. However, the three biggest causes of China’s water-scarcity crisis are global warming, urbanization and especially industrialization. Personal choices affect people and the environment all around the…

    • 319 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Using named examples, assess the contribution of large scale water management projects in increasing water security. 15 Water security means having access to sufficient, safe, clean and affordable water. Theoretically, the world’s poorer countries are the most water insecure, suffering from both physical and economic water scarcity. One solution to tackle water insecurity is through large scale water projects for example the Three Gorges project in China, the South-North transfer project also in China and the restoration of the Aral Sea. However there is much controversy over whether these schemes are actually sustainable and therefore beneficial in the long run. The Three Gorges da project in China blocks the Yangtze River; it cost $50 billion just for the construction, and was fully operational on the 4th of July 2012. This cost doesn’t account for the environmental and social costs that also came with the scheme. The dam drains 1.8million km2 and will supply Shanghai’s population of 13 million along with Chongqing’s population of 3 million with sufficient supplies of water. Not only has it provided people with water but it’s also the worlds’ largest hydroelectric scheme generating 18000MW of electricity, instead of using 50 million tonnes of coal each year. As well as this, it is seen as a flood protection and can save many lives and cut financial costs created by flood damage. When the operation is looked at from this perspective, it is seen to be a success and suggests that large scale projects increase water security, however when analysed from a different view, many problems being to arise. An example of these costs are factors such as the dammed waters drowned 100,000 hectares of arable land, along with 13 cities, many smaller settlement and 13 factories. 1.9 million people have been displaced from their homes and land because of reasons. As well as social impacts, many environmental issues were raised such as ecological impacts on fisheries, biodiversity…

    • 794 Words
    • 23 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Sci207: Week 3 - Outline

    • 2359 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Water contamination is vastly becoming an alarming issue across the world. We rely on clean water to survive, yet right now we are heading towards a water crisis. Changing climate patterns are threatening lakes and rivers, and key sources that we tap for drinking water are being overdrawn or tainted with pollution (www.nrdc.org). Clean and plentiful water is the cornerstone of prosperous communities. Yet as we enter the 21st century, swelling demand and changing climate patterns are draining rivers and aquifers and pollution is threatening the quality of what remains. NRDC is integrating our expertise in pollution prevention, water efficiency and climate change to sustain America's precious water resources, working to advance smart water efficiency policies to ensure that communities get the water they need while keeping our lakes, rivers, and streams full and healthy (www.nrdc.org).…

    • 2359 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Climate change has been the forefront of international news and how leaders will take specific measures on tackling environmental challenges. China has faced much pressure and criticism, domestically and internationally with their actions or lack thereof on the environmental crisis. China is the world’s leader when it comes to the release of carbon emissions. Approximately, one third of all accountable greenhouses gases that are emitted from the planet is due to China’s activities. China is home to sixteen of the world’s twenty most polluted cities (Xu 1). The contribution of severe contamination, air pollution, and scarcity of land deterioration has led to the decrease of life expectancy in the north by 5.5 years. According to the World Bank, the cost of environmental degradation of the country is an estimated nine percent of its GDP.…

    • 1128 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In the aftermath of Mao Zedong, China was viewed as a powerless and developing nation. In 2009, the Chinese executed the record-breaking world’s largest engineering and hydropower project on the Yangtze River.1 This 23 billion (US) dollar project is known as the Three Gorges Dam.2 The dam stands at 607 feet tall, stretches over a mile wide, and is equipped with twenty-six generators.3 Not only does this project symbolize China’s power, it provides China with ten percent of its electrical needs using eco-friendly energy.4 5 The massive dam was created on the longest river in China to generate power and control the flooding of the Yangtze River.6 Although the engineers intended for the project to be “green” or not harmful to the environment, biologists, geologists, and environmentalists have all been averse to the dam.7 The Three Gorges Dam is disturbing the ecosystem, biosphere and other natural elements in China. The Three Gorges Dam has been the cause of Earthquakes in China and Reservoir Induced Seismicity. The titanic dam is also responsible for damaging floods and severe tainting of the once clean waters of the Yangtze River.…

    • 2307 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    China Research Paper

    • 6214 Words
    • 25 Pages

    14. Ma, Jun Li, Naomi (2006). "Tackling China 's Water Crisis Online". chinadialogue.net. Retrieved 1 October 2012.…

    • 6214 Words
    • 25 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Crayfish

    • 542 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In brief, the health of vegetation, animals, and human beings can be impacted a lot by water pollution. Water pollution problem is a significant world problem. Governments not only need to pay a lot of attention on the pollution problem, but also need to focus on how to reduce the effects of water pollution efficiently. In fact, everyone needs to be concerned about this problem and protect the environment as best as he or she…

    • 542 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    China's One Child Policy

    • 331 Words
    • 2 Pages

    There are going to be less people in China. Since there is going to be less people in China they won’t need as much water (Doc C). Liu says, the population controls have kept sulfur dioxide emissions down by 17.6%, and reduced water pollution by 30.8% (Doc C). There are so many people in China they need a way to decrease their population.…

    • 331 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    water purification

    • 2041 Words
    • 9 Pages

    About 1.6 million people are forced to use contaminated water, this is because most of the water sources are polluted with either industrial or domestic waste, thus unfit for use.…

    • 2041 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Water Resource Problems

    • 1214 Words
    • 5 Pages

    1. What do you believe are the three most important priorities for dealing with the water resource problems of the Colorado River basin, as discussed in the Core Case Study that opens this chapter? Explain your choices.…

    • 1214 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    With the start of the 20th century, the United States has become aware of the seriousness of today’s environmental issues. Today, countries with a rapid course of innovation, such as China, India and even the US struggle to supply their population with the basic necessities, like clean water. According to Lian-Jun Bao, graduate of the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, roughly half of China’s rural residents lack access to drinking water that meets the universal standard of cleanliness. For all the success that is equated with such countries, their water supply cannot keep up with their innovation and modernity.…

    • 1192 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Pollution In China

    • 1300 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The pollution crisis in china has shifted from a local problem, and is starting to have an international impact (Zhang, Mauzerall, Zhu, Liang, Ezzati, Remais 2010 ). The air quality problem in China has created a significant socioeconomic cost, which is associated with the health care and treatment needed from exposure to toxins in the air (4) some major illnesses that are common with industrial air pollution are asthma, bronchitis, lung irritation, pneumonia, the inability to fight lung infections due to a weakened immune system, and pre mature death (3) on from Factories that produce cheap goods for the United States pump an abundance of air toxins into the environment (1). Major environmental issues that might alarm other countries are almost the norm in china. (1). The skies in major cities such as Beijing have become so polluted overtime that the sun is almost invisible to the naked eye (1). While clean air is a major problem, water is also becoming very polluted, which causes large sections of the ocean ecosystem unable to support underwater organisms (1). Considering the fact that we rely on the ocean to filter out carbon dioxide in the air, the fact that it cannot sustain life underwater should be a major red flag. A little less than 500 million people living in china are unable to obtain clean, safe drinking water (1.) The main reason China is so far behind in air quality, relates to their dependence on coal, which emits toxic sulfur dioxide (1). A study conducted 2003 by the Chinese Academy of Environmental planning concluded that around 300,000 Chinese residents die each year as a result from pollutants in the air. Some of the diseases associated with this are heart disease and lung cancer (1). Other unsafe production methods like coal mining are…

    • 1300 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    abcd

    • 599 Words
    • 2 Pages

    China extraordinary economic growth, industrialization, and urbanization coupled with inadequate investiment in basic water supply and treatment infrastructure, have resulted in widespread water pollution. In China today, approximately 700 million people over half of the pollution consume drinking water contaminated with level of animals and human excreta that exceed maximum permissible levels in rural areas and and in urban areas. By the year 2000 the volume of the wastewater produced could double from 1990 levels to almost 78 billion tons. Water pollution from small rural industries is also a serius problem throughout China. Over half all river section monitored for water quality are rated as being unsafe for human contact. Therefore all of this situations shows that China faces a serius problems with water pollution.…

    • 599 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays