Question

Overall, do environmental and social conditions in China give you hope or fear about the future

Accepted Answer

The rapid development in the Chinese economy offered various benefits to the people which are as follows:
1) People have been lifted out of the conditions like destitution.
2) There is a deduction in chronic hunger from 
 11eb9e10_f7fa_66ad_a820_c307016e302a_SM1471_11 to 
 11eb9e10_f7fa_8dbe_a820_dfdc43914950_SM1471_11 .
3) The normal life expectancy has increased from 
 11eb9e10_f7fa_8dbf_a820_d1ae7dfb18a7_SM1471_11 -
 11eb9e10_f7fa_8dc0_a820_7fc5f7aa356b_SM1471_11 years.
4) The GDP has improved from less than (U.S) $
 11eb9e10_f7fa_b4d1_a820_db1734cbfd4b_SM1471_11 per year to more than $
 11eb9e10_f7fa_b4d2_a820_774929dafb56_SM1471_11 .
The vast majority of the ecological issues emerge from poverty. In the year 
 11eb9e10_f7fa_b4d3_a820_6523258b50a3_SM1471_11 , there was no private transportation in china, they use Bicycle and public transportation to go around. Now there are nearly 
 11eb9e10_f7fa_dbe4_a820_7f9921580c07_SM1471_11 million automobiles in China and by the year 
 11eb9e10_f7fa_dbe5_a820_6934171039b1_SM1471_11 , the automobiles will increase to 
 11eb9e10_f7fa_dbe6_a820_0111c2473287_SM1471_11 million.
With reference to Figure-
 11eb9e10_f7fb_02f7_a820_77ae8062ccbf_SM1471_11 (graph), which shows different indicators of the Chinese economy and the environment. The various conclusion that can be made from the graph are as follows:
1) The number of private cars - It is represented by the purple line in the graph. With the increase in the GDP (represented by the blue line, on the vertical right-axis), the number of private cars owned by the individuals is also increasing from 
 11eb9e10_f7fb_02f8_a820_1b373a1f508b_SM1471_11 million in the year 
 11eb9e10_f7fb_2a09_a820_992cf5239e11_SM1471_11 to 
 11eb9e10_f7fb_2a0a_a820_8fa36628edaf_SM1471_11 million in the year 
 11eb9e10_f7fb_2a0b_a820_3bce4a2cd54e_SM1471_11 . The number of automobiles is increased by 
 11eb9e10_f7fb_2a0c_a820_3314b879eed6_SM1471_11 folds.
2) Discharge of the COD- With the increase in the GDP, the COD(represented by the red line) is decreasing from 
 11eb9e10_f7fb_511d_a820_f9cdd2e8e9a1_SM1471_11 million tons in the year 
 11eb9e10_f7fb_511e_a820_699d21b420a9_SM1471_11 to 
 11eb9e10_f7fb_782f_a820_8d79c50b9fa2_SM1471_11 million tons by the year 
 11eb9e10_f7fb_7830_a820_15f886d9a593_SM1471_11 . The COD discharge is reducing due to the demand of the effluent controls in the industry. 
3) Smoke Dust emission and 
 11eb9e10_f7fb_7831_a820_2928bdbc8359_SM1471_11 emission- With the increase in the number of Cars and the GDP, the number of cars on the roads and the industries increased which lead to a variation in the Smoke, dust, and gaseous like 
 11eb9e10_f7fb_9f42_a820_172e49873a0f_SM1471_11 emission into the atmosphere. This increased the pollution level into the environment causing Air pollution. The dust and smoke(represented by the green line) have reduced from 
 11eb9e10_f7fb_9f43_a820_8f08b372a9c2_SM1471_11 million tons in the year 
 11eb9e10_f7fb_9f44_a820_b75628fe15f8_SM1471_11 to 
 11eb9e10_f7fb_c655_a820_4fdfbe5f685a_SM1471_11 million tons by the year 
 11eb9e10_f7fb_c656_a820_b77d4f19f5ab_SM1471_11 whereas the levels of 
 11eb9e10_f7fb_c657_a820_09f1a30cbce0_SM1471_11 (represented by the yellow line) have increased from 
 11eb9e10_f7fb_c658_a820_ed2642f9dc8b_SM1471_11 million tons in the year 
 11eb9e10_f7fb_ed69_a820_cd503e87ee14_SM1471_11 to 
 11eb9e10_f7fb_ed6a_a820_7fe000084fab_SM1471_11 million tons by the year 
 11eb9e10_f7fb_ed6b_a820_e9b33e21d67d_SM1471_11 .
With an increase in goods services provided, the GDP increases that lead to an increase in the number of private cars and 
 11eb9e10_f7fc_147c_a820_11ac79dd2dab_SM1471_11 emission but there is a reduction in COD and Smoke dust emission due to the installation of the effluents and due to adopting appropriate technology. There is a reduction in the Smoke and dust emission but the overall pollutant level (
 11eb9e10_f7fc_147d_a820_2f59470b778d_SM1471_11 and smoke and dust emission) remains high. With the increase in the GDP, the number of private cars is increasing due to which the emission of the harmful gaseous in the environment is increasing causing air pollution. With industrialization, more fossil fuel (Coal) is burned as a result, the 
 11eb9e10_f7fc_147e_a820_1317e156493c_SM1471_11 levels in the environment increase causing more pollution. If necessary, measures and technologies are adopted then the pollution levels can be decreased with increasing GDP but that will bring down the GDP as the environment-friendly technologies are generally expensive.
Therefore, the environmental and the social situations in china give anxiety about the future because if necessary, strategies are not adopted then the pollution level (contributed by China) will elevate the levels of green-houses gases in the environment which in turn, will exhibit other harmful effects on the environment. But if the strategies are adopted then the GDP level will go down. So, the conditions in china are very scared.

Environmental Science 12th Edition by William Cunningham,Mary Ann Cunningham

Environmental Science 12th Edition by William Cunningham,Mary Ann Cunningham