Blog 13:Ten Percent of China’s Rice Production Polluted by Harmful Heavy Metals, Say Researchers

Researchers in china warn that almost ten percent of rice produced in china may contain harmful heavy metals. It is unlikely to enter international market since it is consumed domestically but it still endangers the health of domestic consumers.
China produces almost one hundred and forty tons of rice each year, according to statistics that about fourteen million tons of polluted rice that is consumed each year. Even the tight of rice is affected, because many times long grained rice absorbs more than regular rice. Chinas rapid industrialization has led to heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury to be released into the atmosphere and pollute china’s land. Many farmers eat their own crops contaminated with these highly toxic metals. People who have eaten the polluted rice have shown signs of pain and inability to walk properly. Cadmium can be expelled from the body naturally but it accumulates in the liver and kidneys, years of contamination would led to disease and abnormal body functions.
This article brings up tough questions, should officials do something about the pollution. how does one determine where the pollution is coming from and who to correctly punish someone for polluting crop land. If this news had been in America there would be a outrage, we get our food from different countries, the article has said that the rice is only used locally but it makes you wonder where we are getting our food from and what environment our food is being produced in. this article takes on



http://oryza.com/Rice-News/14815.html

Blog 12:How Clean Are Your Clothes? Pollution from China's Textile Industry

 In China, apparel factories have been violating water regulations; more than 6000 violations have been cited. The violations include illegally dumping waste water into streams and rivers. Evidence shows there are likely many more violators out there and did not make the official record books.
The brands and retailers that get clothes can no longer hope that their facilities will remain quiet, many public officials would like for the curtain to rise on these problems.
The problem lies with the relationship between the business and the factory. The business usually has little or no contact with the factories further up and the supply chain before it gets to the finished product. The businesses don't see the damage to the environment only the profit. Businesses really need to step up their game to protect their brand reputations. Companies need to ensure that the factories that make their goods are not polluting the communities where they are operated. In fact companies need policies that give their suppliers business incentives to go beyond this compliance. Spend more time to make sure there are more efficient ways to make clothes with a smaller carbon footprint and use less toxic dyes and most importantly less water.


I see this article as a potential to change the environmental pollution with clothes. Businesses care about their reputation but most will not go above and beyond to make sure the people they buy from are taking care of the environment or even workers. Most of the businesses are just interested in getting the cheapest deal and do not care about what happens after the product is sold to them.


http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/skeane/how_clean_are_your_clothes_pol.html

Blog 11: China To Reduce Dioxin Pollution From Pulp And Paper Industr

The world bank has decided to give fifteen million dollars to the peoples republic of china from the global environment facility to help support the reduction in the toxins from the pulp and paper industry.
The persistent organic pollutants are a group of chemical substances  that come from industrial chemicals. the dioxins are just one type of the 21 persistent organic pollutants listed in the Stockholm convention on POPs. These chemicals are known to lead to serious health effects, including certain birth defects, and greater susceptibility to disease and even diminished intelligence in birth.
The world bank is sponsoring this project and hope it will focus on the best environmental practices in non wood mills which typify the  most commonly used fiber material in china, which would be straw and reed, and including bamboo and Bagasse.
based on the projects china will then develop a long term nation action plan to scale up the efforts and to further control the formation from both the wood and non wood pulp sectors.
Support will also be provided to strengthen the government’s capacity in monitoring and enforcement of a national dioxin standard issued recently.
I feel like this article is demonstrating the greatness that china is trying to get back on track with the environment. This may be the start of something better for china. If china can make sure this long term plan goes right I believe there is hope for there to be some change in other sectors of the environment as well.


http://www.asianscientist.com/topnews/world-bank-gef-grant-china-dioxin-pop-pollution-from-pulp-and-paper-industry-042012/

Blog 10:China's challenges: political change, pollution and protest

People are getting more and more serious about their social rights and political rights in China. Fifteen years ago, the air quality in Beijing was probably even worse than today, but it did not become issues until recent years. Nobody saw good air quality as an entitlement; now people's ideology has changed.

Because china developed fast after opening up, problems have accumulated over the past 20 years. In the coming decade, environmental problems have affected ordinary people and they deserve our attention: issues such as poor air quality causing lung cancer and heavy-metal pollution resulting in birth deformities. The minister of environmental protection said earlier this year that China had seen more than 30 major incidents of heavy-metal pollution since 2009.

Even the weather has been affected by the pollution that china has imposed on the country. Continuous droughts and floods in the south. If you do not fix these problems soon, the climate itself will be changed and then many different problems will arise. Global warming has been increasing as well. in  the past fifty years, glaciers in northwest china have shrunk by twenty one percent. Some lakes relying on melt water from glaciers are shrinking and that leads to water shortages in northern western areas. Supervision should be enhanced; reporting and emergency measures are needed. When accidents happen, enforcement and strict punishment should be implemented.

This is very important because the pushing for freedom of speech is building. This means that the government is playing a very delicate balance between maintaining power and legitimacy. If these new ideas and changes take place within the next couple of years, things will not often be in the government’s control. I think this article is a little bias. The writer uses "I" in a lot of examples and for the most part I think news articles should not include your personal opinion. This article is very informing, I never would have thought that people were being demanding and the government is having a hard time making sure everything goes smoothly.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/18/china-challenges-next-generation

Blog 9: China's irrigation system guilty of massive pollution'

The underground irrigation system in china has been responsible for polluting the atmosphere with up to thirty megatonnes of carbon dioxide each year.
we all know that china pollution the largest amount of greenhouse gas each year, with around seventeen percent of its emissions coming from agriculture.This type of pollution is caused by the huge amount of energy needed to pump water from underground, up to a depth of 70m.
Environmentalists are now conducting studies to calculate how much pollution is being created by this monstrosity of emissions.The research at east Anglia university used survey data collected from 366 villages. they analyzed these results to calculate the emissions created by groundwater that goes across china's remaining villages. The results accounted for more than .5 percent of china's total carbon dioxide emissions. that is similar to the total amount of carbon dioxide in new zealand for a whole entire year! China is now coming up with a water grid to map out current pollution. however, the plans may be delayed because of the cost and difficulty to set up.

I think this article is a good article. China is in trouble with water pollution, air pollution, and is very detrimental to all people in the environment, also including the environment  itself. The irrigation system is not perfect in other countries but it does seem that china's outlook is not doing so well. China will really need to step up its policies before making another mistake. The whole country needs to fix current problems instead of making new ones.
http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/14/03/2012/131922/39China39s-irrigation-system-guilty-of-massive.htm?printerfriendly=true

Blog 7: Pollution blamed for lead poisoning of kids

 

 Of the 1,306 children living in the Kangqiao area of Pudong district that had their blood tested in late 2011, 49 children, mainly between the ages of one and three, were found to have elevated blood lead levels. The children became sick when they were exposed to airborne lead, a very toxic chemical if ingested.
 Shanghai Johnson Controls International Battery Co., Ltd. discharged excess airborne lead as it expanded production without governmental permits, identifying the company as the major source of lead contamination in the area. All the businesses associated with this incident have shut down for the current time being. In the meantime the municipal government is working to formulate pollution emission standards for battery plants to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future. However, effects and planning of these emissions will not be immediate and might take a long time to come into effect.

                                                    

This is a major problem; the pollution is so severe in China that children are being affected drastically. I think this event shows that there really isn’t enough standards and regulation going on in china in the business world. These children will now live with diseases that the government will take no responsibility for. I think this article goes to show that china needs to step up with its control over pollution and do it fast. What should these companies be responsible for and should they be responsible for taking care of what their pollution did to these children? How should we bring about the solution to all of these pollution problems happening in china?



http://www.china.org.cn/china/2012-02/26/content_24732360.htm

Blog 6: An Upside to China’s Air Pollution: More Snowfall in the Sierra Nevada

This year in California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range, the annul precipitation levels were expected to decline. However, there was a slight climate change and a snowstorm delights the travelers. Researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the University of California, San Diego, have discovered that dust storms in Asia could help douse the Sierras with snow, bolstering California’s economy and rejuvenating its environment. This is important because in the spring and summer snowmelts in the Sierras provide fresh water for 25 million people, for wildlife and millions of acres of farmland, as well as for hydropower that meets up to 15 percent of the state’s electricity needs. Industrial pollution and heavy metals flow freely from Asia to California. Research suggests that as much as one-third of the airborne lead in the San Francisco Bay Area wafted over from Asia. This “research” has been going on since 2009 and is supposed help out future forecasting of weather.

 Although this is great for America’s economy and the environment, you would have to wonder whether that is alright to have it at all. Why is it considered a good thing for a relatively bad environment in another country to bring much fortune to ours? How should we go about making sure that this does not happen again, or do we want this event to happen again? Should we be celebrating snowfall from pollution? I also would like to see the evidence that these two incidences are related and how much it has been studied. Who are these "scientists" doing the research?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/17/science/earth/chinas-air-pollution-brings-snowfall-to-sierra-nevada.html?_r=2

Blog 5: Global airlines face $670 m carbon pollution bill in 2012

Carbon emissions from airplanes have gone steadily up in the past few years however this year it is more than ever.Airlines face a carbon pollution bill of $670 million for this year under EU emissions trading scheme. This scheme has triggered anger from foreign governments because the cost is calculated on emissions from the point of origin. China this week banned its airlines form participating without permission.

Some airlines under fire are Air China, Cathay Pacific, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and Hainan Airlines. These airlines face a bill for 990,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. The cost could be lowered if the the airlines bought newer equipment that reduce emissions, but those in itself cost a lot.
 Under the new rule, around 80 percent of allowances will be given for free to aircraft operators and 15 percent will be allocated by auctioning. The remaining 3 percent will be allocated to a special reserve.Chinese and EU leaders hold a summit in Beijing next week. A group of 26 countries vehemently opposed to the new rule will be meeting up in Moscow to discuss the matter further.

 Airplanes have always been a major factor in air pollution. I think this scheme will make sure certain countries are looking after the environment. Yes, it does cost a lot but it is what they need to do to make sure they are taking care of the earth and what these countries should have been doing in the first place. I don't think this argument to  oppose this scheme will work because of the fact that it has gone on so long and it is destroying and polluting our environment.



http://www.albawaba.com/airlines-face-670m-carbon-pollution-charge-2012-study-412341

Blog 4: Pollution exceeds limits at 32 gas stations, EPA says

The Environment protection agency in Taiwan has been researching and investigating water and soil pollution around gas stations. Their investigation reveals that about 30 of the gas stations soil out of the four hundred examined have been contaminated with chemicals that exceed the limit of the standard. The examinations started back in 2001 and have continued into this present time. About 9 percent of all gas stations nationwide are contaminated some level and there is very little the government can do about the situation at the current moment.

The soil pollution was mainly caused by petroleum hydrocarbons, while groundwater was mainly contaminated by the organic chemical benzene. However, the groundwater at the polluted sites are mostly used for tasks such as cleaning cars and not for drinking, however the management board has stated,  that because of thick layers of cement, the harmful pollutants are unlikely to vaporize into the air and affect health.

This is very pressing, if Taiwanese gas stations let off this much pollution to the soil, I am wondering about our current state of stations. This leads me to believe that the stations are not being updated and renewed for safety of the citizens and environmental upkeep. Even though the management board has said that the pollution is unlikely to affect health, you can never be too sure about how they are conducting that research. Too just assume that the health of others is safe because of a guess or a claim is very unsafe and should be reconsidered.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2012/02/08/2003524972