The Chinese View of Global Warming, by Hedvah Shuchman, Ph.D.

From October 29 to November 17 this year, I traveled in China visiting Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an, Suzhow, Hangzhow and other cities. Each of these cities has multi-millions of people. I interviewed a member of the Shanghai Environmental Protection Agency who spoke to me about the great efforts this city of 15-18 million people is making to control air pollution. I traveled by train from Shanghai to the city of Suzhow, which is west of Shanghai and to Hangzhow in the south. This opportunity to see the countryside and meet the people was exciting. But it also alerted me to some of the incredible problems which face Chinese air pollution engineers. For hundreds of miles I looked out at rice fields which had been harvested and in which the peasants were setting fire to the chaff to clear the land for replanting. White smoke covered the sky and filled the train to the point that it was sometimes difficult to breathe. In Beijing and Shanghai great efforts are being made to control air pollution by regulating the use of automobiles. But only 10% of Chinese own automobiles now. This number is expected to increase exponentially in the next ten years. China’s pollution problems are monumental. In order to present a birds-eye view of the issues being dealt with by a country of 1.3 billion people, I culled clippings from the National English Language Newspaper, China Daily: “Global warming will melt China’s glacier by 50% and cause the nation’s sea levels to rise by up to 15 centimeters within 40 years, according to the theories of China’s leading scientists. “A study from Shanghai Normal University initially revealed the link between climate change and the spread of the lethal H5N1 virus. The transmission of the virus is largely relying on migratory birds whose habitats can be significantly changed by climate change… “More than half of the country’s rivers are severely polluted and about a third of the territory affected by acid rain… The Chinese central government has set a target of reducing energy consumption per unit of GDP by 20% and cut major pollutants by 10% by 2010. “China is speeding up efforts to formulate regulations on the collection and disposal of electronic garbage such as TV sets, refrigerators and computers. Under the soon to be formulated regulations, manufacturers and distributors of home appliances as well as after-service providers will be obligated to reclaim waste and used products and then sell them to licensed disposal enterprises. Statistics show that China discards about 5 million TV sets, 4 million refrigerators, 6 million washing machines and 10 million mobile phones every year. “The manager of China’s largest wind farm is winding up negotiations on his first deal to sell credits for reducing emissions of carbon dioxide, which he expects to rake in up to US$500,000 a year in extra revenue in 2007. “China needs daily pollution fines, according to a study of the State Environmental Protection Agency. More than one quarter of the water in the Yangtze River is so polluted that it cannot be treated to make it drinkable. Most of the Yellow River – the cradle of Chinese civilization – is not fit for drinking or swimming.