Pollution in China Essay

Introduction China, with its rapid industrialisation seems to have paid its price by witnessing steeply rising levels of pollution. With millions of largely unregulated industries, the vast rivers, streams and lakes have become easy avenues for chemical, textile and tanning industries to discharge their toxic contents at will. The paper discusses the pollution in China, its impact on the environment and how it has affected the lives of people.   An Overview of Pollution in China   A report by the World Bank (China 2007) has pointed out that China is facing increased levels of pollution that has kept pace with the rising industrialisation of rural China. The report points out that the use of energy in China has went up by 70 % between 2000 and 2005. The use of coal has also increased by 75% and this has created a corresponding increase in the air pollution. The report points out that China’s emissions of SO2 and soot were respectively 42 percent and 11 percent higher making it the largest polluter in the world. The report also points out that pollution of water, rivers, lakes has also increased to alarming levels. Water pollution is also a cause for serious concern and during 2001 and 2005, about 54 percent of the seven main rivers in China contained water deemed unsafe for human consumption. The report points out that the economic burden of premature mortality and morbidity due to air pollution was157.3 billion Yuan in 2003, or 1.16 percent of by WHO. The report suggests that pollution costs China more than 147 billion Yuan a year in the form of increased health related costs. A report from CBS news says â€Å"China’s air pollution seems like a problem just for that country, think again. The stuff spewing out in China has now been detected in the United States, and some suspect it’s beginning to affect the U.S. climate China’s far-reaching dust and soot cloud travelling to the West Coast hits Hawaii first, and that may be why temperatures in Hawaii are rising. A lot of early-computer modelling of Chinese pollution’s effects on the global climate is turning out to be just plain wrong. This is why a massive new study with ground and air monitoring across Asia starts next year† (Yinchaun, 31 March 2000). Following table shows the air quality in China Table 1. Trends in Air Quality in China’s Cities (%) (China, 2007) The following table shows the distribution of particulate matter in air Table 2. Distribution of PM10 and SO2 Levels in 341 Cities, 2003 and 2004 (China, 2007)   The list of pollutants that infect China re provided in the following table. Table 4. List of major pollutants and their categories (China, 2007)   Clare (Clare D’Souza, 2002) reports that â€Å"Energy consumption, especially coal consumption, is the main source of air pollutants such as particles, SO2, NOx, and CO in most cities of China. As the primary energy source, coal has accounted for about 65 to 70 percent (China Statistical Yearbook 2004) of total energy consumption in recent years, which has caused many environmental and human health problems. Crude oil consumption has been increasing because of the rapid expansion of the motor vehicle fleet in many cities. In recent years, epidemiological studies conducted around the world have demonstrated that there are close associations between air pollution and health outcomes. PM10 and SO2 are chosen in many studies as the indicative pollutants for evaluating the health effects of ambient air pollution. Although the mechanisms are not fully understood, epidemiological evidence suggests that outdoor air pollution is a contributing cause of morbidity and mortality. Epidemiological studies have found consistent and coherent associations between air pollution and various outcomes, including respiratory symptoms, reduced lung function, chronic bronchitis, and mortality†. The author suggests that industry â€Å"size† is controversial with respect to environmental issues. In some studies large enterprises have been deemed to be more pollution intensive in comparison with small enterprises. The author reports that small enterprises as being more environmentally friendly due to their size and found small plants to be far more pollution intensive because they are difficult and costly to regulate. Empirical research has suggested that enterprise size is inversely correlated with emissions intensity in developing countries. World Bank and other institutions have found that small enterprises are pollution intensive (Mani, 1997).   Karshenas (1992 author has pointed that the Winter’s (model of business and the environment may be a more appropriate way of approaching the problem. According to the author, â€Å"enterprises may not have mastered perfection in terms of ecological sustainability but enterprises can make a systematic assessment of the areas where improvements can be introduced. Although Winter goes beyond traditional management theory, the model emphasizes ecologically sound processes and practices right throughout a firm, from company policy, employee relations, supply chain, public relations and marketing. A firm should consider prevention, reduction, recycling and disposal of wastes throughout its operations. They should use sustainable inputs in environmentally friendly manufacturing processes that result in greener outputs (i.e. maintaining environmentally friendly processes for a product from cradle to grave). This would prove to be profitable, provided that the end users, be they industry or consumers, are committed to using green products. Ideally, enterprises should take control of their own operational structure by viewing cleaner manufacturing as a competitive and strategic challenge, they should resort to manufacturing life-cycle analysis, environmental auditing and environmental reporting. The reality is that an enterprise cannot consider making a product ecologically sound without considering how its raw material acquisition, development, manufacturing, distribution, sales and disposal systems impact on the environment. The author suggests that has gone one step further by stating that managers in a green venture start from a different mindset. They recognise that becoming green is an opportunity to establish a unique position in a niche market or, by being able to produce a higher value product with fewer resources, to gain a competitive advantage. He proposed a trisect by which sustainable business is based on the concept of balancing ecological, economic and social factors†..   Action to fight pollution   The government of China has redoubled its efforts in fighting pollution and has organized task forces at the local levels. The structure is shown in the following figure. Figure 1. Main Government Partners in the Project   The report has identified a number of measures to fight pollution and these are displayed in the following table. Table 4. Sectors and Pollutants Included in the CECM (China, 2007) The team has implemented certain steps to fight the pollution and these are illustrated in the following figure.   Figure 2. Flow Chart for Estimating the Economic Cost of Pollution (China, 2007)   The following steps have been proposed: Step 1: Identify the pollution factors, polluted area, and related conditions. Step 2: Determine affected endpoints and establish dose-response relationships for pollution damage. Step 3: Estimate population (or other) exposures in polluted areas. Step 4: Estimate physical impacts from pollution using information from steps 2 and 3. Step 5: Convert pollution impacts in physical terms to pollution costs in monetary terms. Indiscreet reaction by the Chinese government Wang (Wang Xiangwei. 4 Jun 4, 2007) reports that the Chinese government is paranoid about maintaining a good image about China, for fears that it may hurt its business stakes. The author reports that the most convenient way for China to control pollution is by jailing activists who point out the problems of pollution. The author reports about the village of Wuxi and how it was affected by pollution. â€Å"For hundreds of years, Wuxi , on the edge of Tai Lake, was the envy of the nation. In the heart of the Yangtze River delta and known as â€Å"the land of fish and rice†, it was bestowed with fertile land and abundant waterways, and was also home to famous poets, painters and industrialists. Since recently however, the city has become a stinking hell for its five million residents as a blue-green algal bloom from the heavily polluted lake contaminated the city’s tap water, making it foul-smelling and undrinkable. After scrambling for six days with emergency measures, Wuxi officials said yesterday the tap water was drinkable. But the residents, who have relied on bottled water for drinking and cooking, have every reason to be suspicious. Xinhua has reported that after the usual cleaning aids such as activated carbon failed to remove the odour, the city adopted what Mayor Mao Xiaoping called â€Å"a bold move† by pouring huge amounts of potassium permanganate (Condy’s crystals) into water-intake points. This allowed the strong oxidising agent to remove foul-smelling matter from the pipes. But Xinhua failed to explain that potassium permanganate is hazardous and can be a health risk. As the Wuxi officials brazenly claimed credit for winning the battle against the water crisis, none of them yet had the decency to apologise to the suffering residents. All of them have blamed factors beyond their control – higher- than-normal temperatures that helped to foster the growth of the algae, a lack of rain and favourable wind conditions, and the lowest water level in the lake in five decades. In fact, the fundamental cause of the crisis is the lake’s heavy pollution – as several mainland environmentalists have repeatedly warned the authorities in the past decade. Wu Lihong, 39, is one of them. He has spent large sums of his own money over the past 16 years collecting evidence of pollution at Tai Lake, the mainland’s thirdlargest freshwater lake, and petitioning the local authorities to shut down the polluters. Now, with a water crisis on its hands, one would imagine any government that claims to â€Å"put the people first† would give Wu a medal of honour and make him a hero. Instead, Wu, known as the Tai Lake anti-pollution warrior in overseas media, is languishing in jail and awaiting trial on June 12 on trumped-up charges of blackmail. A farmer turned businessman who grew up in Zhoutie town in Yixing – a small, booming industrial city under the jurisdiction of Wuxi – Wu witnessed the lake turn into a cesspit. He then made it a personal crusade to petition authorities to shut down more than 2,000 chemical factories in Yixing that spewed toxic pollutants into the lake every day. By passing the local bureaucracy and filing reports to higher- level government officials has led to limited success he is welcomed, even liked by many central government officials and national media in Beijing. In 2005, he was chosen as one of mainland’s top 10 environmentalists and honoured at a ceremony in the Great Hall of the People. But he incurred the wrath of local officials and has been constantly harassed by local policemen, officials and thugs. He was arrested again in April on charges of blackmail after the local officials set a trap for him. They offered him 40,000 yuan for a mission to attract investment from other mainland cities, and then laid charges of blackmailing the authorities. His lawyer, Zhu Xiaoyan , said that Wu had told her that he was whipped while in custody, and she was not allowed to see him until more than six weeks after his arrest. Like Gao Yaojie , a retired Henan doctor who refused to keep quiet about Aids, Wu has refused to stand down despite the threat of jail. The mainland leadership should learn from the fiasco of trying to muzzle Ms Gao and release Wu immediately†.(Wang Xiangwei. 4 Jun 4, 2007).   Conclusion Pollution in China has assumed the proportion of an epidemic with wide ramifications on the health of the people, the environment, air and water. The paper has presented discussed various aspects of the problem and presented statistics to show the extent of pollution. Certain recommendations have also been made so that the pollution could be averted and reduced to some extent. References China, 2007. Cost of Pollution in China. Retrieved 18 January 2008 from www.worldbank.org/eapenvironment. Clare D’Souza, 2002. The nexus between industrialization and environment. Journal of Environmental Management and Health. Volume 13 Number 1 2002 pp. 80-97 Karshenas, M (1992), â€Å"Environment development and employment: some conceptual issues†, in Bhalla, A.S (Eds),Environment Development and Employment, WEP Study, ILO, Geneva, Mani, M, Pargal, S, Huq, M (1997), â€Å"Does environmental regulation determine the location of new manufacturing?†, World Bank, Washington, DC, Policy Research Working Paper Wang Xiangwei. 4 Jun 4, 2007. Release the man who first raised the alarm about Tai Lake’s pollution China Briefing. South China Morning Post. Hong Kong. P. 5 Xinhua, 26 December 2006. China’s Energy Conditions and Policies. Xinhua News Agency – CEIS. p: 1 Yinchaun. 31 March 2000. A Global Problem: China’s Pollution. Retrieved 18 January 2008 from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2000/03/31/archive/main178697.shtml

How does Grace Nichols convey the life of the slave women in her poetry? Essay

One way Grace Nichols shows us how the slave women had to live is by saying what they had to do for their captors. In her poem ‘We the women’ Grace says ‘we the women who cutclearfetchdigsing’. The idea of not putting spaces between each work shows how hard they had to work without a break. Grace also says ‘we the women who toil’ which also shows how hard they had to work. The simile ‘whose deaths they sweep aside as easy as dead leaves’ shows how much they were hated and seen as pieces of rubbish. The use of the word ‘we’ in the poem shows just how many women had been captured and a gives a sense of empathy with the slave women. The sun in this poem is shown as a bad figure even though it gives life. To the slaves it is bad because it makes the labour they have to do even harder than it should be. The slaves tried to cheer themselves up by singing. The verb ‘sing’ in the poem has a religious connotation which shows their belief in God. However, this belief is doubted by the suffering they have to endure day after day and also because their prayers go unsung, as Grace says. We see with the used adjective ‘unadorned’ that the slaves were treated badly, misused and badly dressed because appearance did not matter to the captors only work. Grace Nichols uses repetition to convey the harshness of their lives as well. The words ‘old dry-headed women leaning on her hoe’ are repeated in the poem ‘Up my spine’ to show how bad their condition was and how mistreated they were. It also shows the amount of heat exhaustion they get and the lack of rest they have. Their heads are burnt by the sun and the skin is dry. Grace also says in that poem that they have to work even if they are injured and hurt. This shows how much they disliked slaves but had to use them for work to make money. The phrase ‘Way back time when she had a fall’ is used to show that there is no medical help for the workers so they work till they die. Grace uses the senses to convey how awful the slaves’ lives were in this poem as well. Two examples of this are ‘I see the pit of her eye’ and ‘I hear her rattle bone laugh’. This also conveys the physical state that the slaves were in and how they looked. However their captors did nothing to help as it did not matter to them what they were like as long as they worked. The second example gives a feeling of hatred to the poem as she thinks that the slaves would want revenge on the overseers for what they did to them. After all no-one would want to work all day for nothing. The simile ‘twist up and shaky like a crippled insect’ which also conveys their lives. In the poem ‘Water pot’ the workers are slaving away in a plantation centre. Grace says in it, ‘there’s a water pot growing from her head’. This is because the slave woman is carrying it on her head whenever they needed water which, in the heat, is often. It also shows how much work they had to do and for how long every day. Grace says in this poem as well that they are like cattle ‘always hurried’. This conveys how badly they were treated and actually what the captors saw them as. The words ‘tried to walk like a woman’ is used to show how injured they were because of work and the fact they could not walk properly. Grace implies that the slaves had to pull themselves erect to keep some self-esteem, to keep going and not give up, and to show the overseers they will survive whatever they throw at them. However a vast number of slaves died during the 18th century alone. ‘Ala’ is a poem about a woman killing her own child and then being punished for it. In the poem, the slave has given birth to a child which she does not wish to keep because of who the father is. In this instance the father is one of the overseers/captors who raped her. This poem also symbolizes the horror the slave women had to go through and the fact that the title is a religious word meaning ‘god’ their cry for help to their God. The woman who is being tortured is lying on a board with her arms and legs spread-eagled and staked to the ground. This is an implication of Jesus as he was crucified on a cross. The overseers see this woman as a ‘rebel’ and are making an example to the others by killing her publicly. She is the scapegoat. Grace uses repetition here to show to us what was in line for the other women if they did the same. She also says the slave has sent the new-born soul winging its way back to Africa. This implies that the baby is an angel as it has not been forced to work or put through any physical labour. Grace says the soul has gone to Africa because it is where most of the slaves originated from and it is then free. This woman is being eaten alive by red ants as a form of capital punishment for her actions. The personification in the line ‘and the sun blind her with his fury’ adds to the cruelty. The sun is a male figure and so takes the side of the men. The other slaves then pray to God for the deceased woman to be accepted in the pocket of his womb. This is a link up with the baby who was also killed. They are asking for the both of them to be free. Another poem Grace uses to convey the lives of the slave women is ‘In My Name’. This poem goes on about the horror the slave women had to go through. In this instance the baby is not killed therefore it is the opposite of ‘Ala’. The slave is in labour, giving birth to her ‘curled bean’ as Grace describes it. The woman’s belly is an arc of black moon. This shows how unwanted the babies are and that the fathers are the overseers. The colour ‘black’ is evil and we get the impression of what birth is like the way she squats over the dry plantain leaves and commands the earth to receive you. The baby is being dropped here onto the ground because there are no medical facilities available. Grace says the baby is ‘my tainted, perfect child’. This is an oxymoron because she is saying two virtual opposites together. The hatred towards the overseers raping them is shown in the words, ‘my bastard fruit’ and ‘my strange mulatto’. The second example shows that the baby’s father’s parents are mixed race and the mother does not like this. It will always remind her of the slave drivers or her captors if she ever escapes from their grasp. Where as the first shows how appreciative the overseers are of the baby but not the mother. She wishes it wasn’t born so it did not have to become a slave. Grace uses the words ‘my sea grape’ to show how far they have had to travel before arriving at their work place or deathbeds in many instances. At the end she says ‘now my sweet one it is for you to swim’ showing that the baby should make its own decisions on its life and to begin its journey. Overall Grace Nichols poems show her hatred towards what happened to her ancestor’s long time ago and what is still happening today in some places. She believes ruling on it should be stricter and so there will be no slaves left.

Economics 1- General Motors Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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American History - Essay Example From the above list, elaborate on five terms: 1. Florence Kelley Florence Kelley was an important figure during 1916 reforms related to women rights. She worked to reduce the working time for the women to eight hours. However, special permissions were given to sick and married women. She worked immensely for the women rights. She worked to maintain laws for the higher labored works to shorten the duration of work. She worked to minimize the child labor. Kelley guided the authorities to work in order to inform the people about the product. She emphasized to implement similar laws regarding women and children in other states. Women were not allowed to work in the manufacturing or industries more influenced by dangers. She informed that women have to perform double duties, at home and at work. 2. The Political Earthquake of 1890’s The Political Earthquake of 1890’s had huge impact on the history of America. Major economic depression was there during the period. Businesses got destabilized. Government limited to buy the silver. Gold was considered as the regions financial standard. The rights of Blacks were defended. Reforms in the federal election laws were made. Laws were made for the blacks, less educated whites and poor. Dominance of the ruling party was maintained by taking steps to win the votes of people and defeat the political enemies. Booker T. Washington wanted the American black race to be involved in the legal order. 3. People's (Populist) Party National Platform (1892) People's (Populist) Party National Platform (1892) had a great impact on the American history due to the demand to change the political culture of the region. The culture was full with bribes to attain the votes. The whole system was corrupt. Political leaders struggle hard to change the system of the region. Labor unions were encouraged to attain rights. Wealth is not a commodity of a person, it should be distributed. Currency should only be made by government and the pri ce difference between the gold and the silver should be in the ratio of 16:1. The value of the media should be increased. Adjusted income tax was demanded. Saving banks should be owned by the governments. 4. Bennett English-Language School Law (Wisconsin, 1890) Republican and Democratic State Platforms on the Bennett English-Language School Law (Wisconsin, 1890) provided with the political reforms in the American history. Reforms were made to maintain the rights of the peoples and the institutions of the United Sates. Schools funds were defended It was assured that school funds would never be spent on any other work. Education was made compulsory through legislations for the assembly membership as well as for other people. School laws were implemented in nearly all states. It was assured that the attendance at the schools would remain full. Unions made by church faced an opposition. People were encouraged to remain patriotic. People were asked to help the government to implement the school laws. 5. Wealth against Commonwealth (1894) Henry Demarest Lloyd was the reformer who emphasized on the distribution of wealth. The major point made by Henry Demarest Lloyd is that the wealth in more hands is much better than wealth in fewer hands. More people will have some share of wealth that will help in betterment of society. It was discussed that liberty is the factor that impacts the financial conditions. Ballet boxes have lower power that that of the automobile industry. Wealth attracts more people as compared to the ballot box. The

Why is the subject of water so prevalant in T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland Essay

Why is the subject of water so prevalant in T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland - Essay Example Is Eliot speaking of the human soul as a wasteland In this paper I will try to address this question, and thereby also explain why the concept of water is so prevalent in the poem; if one interpretation of the poem is that he is trying to show humanity and its spiritual beliefs have become a wasteland, that it has lost its spirituality, its connection to the divine, then we can look at water as a metaphor for that spirituality and thus the lack of water throughout the poem assumes a greater significance. In terms of religion and spirituality, water has been given an extremely important status, and has been used to denote many things. Broadly speaking, water has been used to represent four major concepts - life, purity, power and death or punishment (Broome, The Bible). Eliot appears to have interwoven all these meanings into his use of water, which seems to imply that he is speaking of humankind's loss of its humanity and its connection to God. To examine the question of how and why water is used so liberally in the poem, I will take each concept and examine it with respect to the poem. Scientifically too, water has been predicted to be the bearer of life; theories on the evolution of life generally agree that life arose from the thick soupy oceans in which the world was covered. Water itself is necessary for the propagation of life. Eliot would also have been aware of these theories as the period in which he lived was one ripe for science. His deep study of religion (Bush) is reflected in the references to the Bible and Hindu texts scattered throughout the poem. Within the very first part of the poem itself, the reference to water as a life-giver becomes evident: ".stirring dull roots with spring rain" and again from the lines of verse beginning at line 19 the landscape is described as dry, and therefore, dead and forbidding : A heap of broken images, where the sun beats, And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief, And the dry stone no sound of water. Only There is shadow under this red rock, The lack of water is striking. There appears to be no water, no relief from the burning heat. Perhaps this is a reference to the lack of spiritual strength, the fact that there is no spiritual life as opposed to physical life. If we look at the Wasteland as a metaphor for the soul, then this interpretation is valid. This appears to be borne out later too, as Madame Sostrosis predicts the future from a pack of Tarot cards - "Fear death by water." She says. This could be a punishment for lack of belief, as water has often been used to bring punishment and the wrath of God. For example, the Great Flood in which Noah escaped in his

E. Franklin Fraizier's Black Bourgeoisie Research Paper

E. Franklin Fraizier's Black Bourgeoisie - Research Paper Example The â€Å"Black Bourgeoisie† can be seen as a type of formal refutation of the â€Å"talented tenth† theory of W.E.B. DuBois, for where DuBois saw the vanguard elements of the educated, prosperous, and successful black affluent class in America in accepting leadership responsibility for the uplift of the larger race or community from bondage in the American apartheid system of the era, Frazier in the post-war era (1950’s) saw this to have been relatively hollow and false. Rather, Frazier saw the â€Å"Black Bourgeoisie† as actually accepting â€Å"white† mainstream American values in a way that mimicked the wider oppressive society and gave little heed or moral recognition to the urgency of the poor, uneducated, and black people suffering under broader patterns of institutional racism. Instead, as shown in Frazier’s analysis of â€Å"black† media, the â€Å"talented tenth† who achieved success in relationship to the goals of the mainstream American society based on materialism were likely to be just as self-serving, hypocritical, and deaf to the needs of the poor or realities of the broader collective experience of racial segregation and discrimination. Whether or not there is anything out of the ordinary or exceptional about Frazier’s recognition can be disputed, for some argue that it reflects merely human nature in its corrupt element or the way power is used generally in society through control and coercion of others. The Marxist element of interpretation would see this as a fundamental element of Capitalism itself. In this regard, Frazier’s use of media interpretation in building a broader critique of society from the viewpoint of sociological method is innovative historically. Looking at the dynamics of the situation, early progressives, liberation, and civil rights leaders such as Dubois suggested as the educated numbers in the African-American community were educated and became integr ated into the society through successful social enterprises, they would naturally accept the leadership role that led to the further development of the black community nationally. This would come through economics, as in â€Å"black business†, and also through vanguard education, values in art, literature, music, popular media, etc. Frazier counters this and suggests that it is rather a social myth with no basis in evidence after 50+ years of African American progress when he wrote in the 1950’s. He suggests that the â€Å"Black Bourgeoisie† vanguard culture is actually an assumption of the exclusionary and elitist social values of the broader capitalist system and society that also fuels and profits off of the racism of segregation. The â€Å"Black Bourgeoisie† is more inherently selfish than revolutionary, more apt to work for their own status, wealth, and prestige, even if that is defined through the lack of experience in others. Whether or not this is human nature or an aspect of corruption inherent in capitalism cannot be determined without the subjective interpretation. Thus, Frazier presents his evidence via sociological methods and media deconstruction to show the pattern of values represented in the â€Å"Black Bourgeoisie† popularly. In this regard, President Obama is one of the best examples of the â€Å"Black Bourgeoisie† in America today. He has attained the ultimate symbol of success in society, the Presidency, and as the first African-American or

South East Asia Currency Crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

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