Environmental issues of China[环境问题]

[hkskyline]

Wetlands plan to lessen damage from disasters
Chow Chung-yan
24 February 2005
South China Morning Post

China plans to develop a huge wetland conservation zone along the coast of the Pearl River Delta to help reduce the impact from tsunami and typhoons.

It would include all the marshlands and mangrove forests in Guangzhou, Zhuhai Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macau, Xinhua reported yesterday.

State Forestry Administration vice-director Zhao Xuemin believes the plan will help to maintain the fragile ecological system in the delta and reduce damage from natural disasters, including floods, typhoon or tsunami.

The director also said China would launch a nation-wide programme this year to give better protection to its wetlands, which ecologists say are crucial for biological diversity, water quality and flood control.

The Guangdong Forestry Administration said it planned to spend 500 million yuan in the next five years on wetland conservation.

The money would be used to plant a 50,000-hectare mangrove forest near the mouth of the Pearl River and on a programme to preserve 50 hectares of nearby natural wetlands, a staff worker for the administration said.

Guangdong has 1.84 million hectares of wetlands, accounting for about 11 per cent of its total territory. It also boasts the largest mangrove forest in China, covering more than 10,000 hectares.

But the administration admits the wetlands were shrinking due to rapid industrialisation in the Pearl River Delta.

Lew Young, conservation manager of the Mai Po nature reserve in Hong Kong, praised the central government for its efforts in wetland conservation over the past few years.

But Dr Young said the authorities must conduct a thorough study before setting up the conservation zone. He said wetlands were a natural buffer for the coastlines and could help absorb the destructive impact of typhoons or tsunami.

[tiger]

China: Danger of melting Everest glaciers
Tuesday, May 17, 2005 Posted: 1504 GMT (2304 HKT)


BEIJING, China (Reuters) -- Global warming is shrinking glaciers on the Tibet side of Mount Everest faster than ever, putting world water supplies at risk, Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday.

Chinese scientists researching the world's tallest peak, which China refers to by its Tibetan name, "Qomolangma", had found clear evidence of increasing glacial melting, Xinhua said.

"Global warming has resulted in glaciers melting fast in the Mount Qomolangma area ... threatening the balance of global water resources," it said.

Around 75 percent of the world's fresh water is stored in glacial ice, much of it in mountain areas, allowing for heavy winter rain and snowfall to be released gradually into river networks throughout the summer or dry months.

"The growing melting area means less fresh water reserves for the world in the future," Xinhua said.

The Chinese scientists had found the melting point of one Everest glacier had risen around 50 meters (165 feet) in just two years, more than twice as fast as normal, while a huge, high-altitude ice cliff seen in 2002 had apparently disappeared, it said.

Similar melting has been reported on Nepal's side of the mountain. The United Nations warned in 2002 that more than 40 Himalayan glacial lakes were dangerously close to bursting, endangering thousands of people, because of global warming.

Scientists say global warming could drive the average global temperature up by 1.4-5.8 Celsius (2.5-10.5 Fahrenheit) over the next 100 years, which would cause glaciers to retreat and oceans to rise and swamp low-lying areas around the world.

[carry_a_torch]

113个国家环保重点城市是哪些？

[Sen]

国家环保总局公布“十大空气污染城市”名单

2005-06-02 22:56更新 来源：新华网 第1页/共1页 << 上一页 | 下一页 >>

新华网北京6月2日电(记者李斌、周玮)环保总局2日公布的报告显示，2004年，113个国家环保重点城市中空气污染指数最大的10个城市分别是：临汾、阳泉、大同、金昌、宜宾、株洲、重庆、焦作、长治、攀枝花。


环保总局公布的《全国城市环境管理和综合整治200 4年度报告》显示，113个国家环保重点城市空气污染指数最小的10个城市依次是：北海、海口、湛江、克拉玛依、珠海、日照、桂林、福州、泉州、长春。


中国城市空气污染具有复合型的特点，工业、生活和交通是造成城市空气污染的主要原因。同时公布的《中国城市环境保护》报告指出，目前，我国城市总体上空气质量较差，在检测的500个城市中，只有38.6%的城市达到国家环境空气质量二级标准。影响城市空气质量的主要污染物为颗粒物，颗粒物污染较重的城市主要分布在西北、华北、中原和四川中部。(完)



相关专题: 地方新闻

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
长春不简单哦,可是重工业城市.
有没有人有全部排名?

[pretty]

Originally Posted by Sen

国家环保总局公布“十大空气污染城市”名单

2005-06-02 22:56更新 来源：新华网 第1页/共1页 << 上一页 | 下一页 >>

新华网北京6月2日电(记者李斌、周玮)环保总局2日公布的报告显示，2004年，113个国家环保重点城市中空气污染指数最大的10个城市分别是：临汾、阳泉、大同、金昌、宜宾、株洲、重庆、焦作、长治、攀枝花。


环保总局公布的《全国城市环境管理和综合整治200 4年度报告》显示，113个国家环保重点城市空气污染指数最小的10个城市依次是：北海、海口、湛江、克拉玛依、珠海、日照、桂林、福州、泉州、长春。


中国城市空气污染具有复合型的特点，工业、生活和交通是造成城市空气污染的主要原因。同时公布的《中国城市环境保护》报告指出，目前，我国城市总体上空气质量较差，在检测的500个城市中，只有38.6%的城市达到国家环境空气质量二级标准。影响城市空气质量的主要污染物为颗粒物，颗粒物污染较重的城市主要分布在西北、华北、中原和四川中部。(完)



相关专题: 地方新闻

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
长春不简单哦,可是重工业城市.
有没有人有全部排名?

株州不算吧~~~我也去过株州呢。。。感觉不错哦~~~

[tiger]

注意，今年Q1，全国空气质量进步最大的城市是 重庆

[hkskyline]

Experts call for compensation system to help save west China environment
People's Daily
June 12, 2005
http://english.people.com.cn/200506/...12_189815.html

The construction of an ecological compensation system in western China was called for by experts at a meeting about the recycling based economy (RBE).

"Only after a cost of ecological protection is compensated for damages by human activities, can the society gain a sustainable development eventually," said Cheng Xia, a professor from Chengdu Engineering University at the just-closed APEC conference on RBE and China's western development.

A fixed ecological compensation system will require resource users and beneficiaries to pay expenses to resource owners or protectors as compensation. This should support and encourage more responsibility in environmental protection in the west.

"Otherwise, the environment will further deteriorate," he emphasized at the conference held in Yinchuan, capital city of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

Most of western China, including all five minority autonomous regions, is located in arid or semi-arid area. Currently, the vast western regions are still faced with growing ecological pressure caused by soil erosion, desertification and grassland degeneration.

According to statistics, the acreage suffering soil erosion in west China has reached 2.825 million square kilometers, 77 percent of the national total.

Qinghai Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, both boasting China's major pastures, have seen serious degeneration of grassland, with the affected area reaching 4.4 million hectares and 9.73 million hectares.

Since Chinese government launched western development strategy in 2000, a total of 110 billion yuan (around 13.3 billion US dollars) has been invested in the ecological environment protection in West China.

By the end of 2004, some 118 million mu (7.9 million hectares) of cultivated land in these areas were returned to woodland while more than 170 million mu (11 million hectares) of wasteland were replanted.

According to experts, state financial support, key afforestation projects and taxes imposed specially to be used for ecological protection are the three main channels, through which compensation fund can be raised.

Mao Rubai, chairman of Environment and Resources Protection Committee of China's National People's Congress, said at the meeting that some compensation principles like "who benefits, who compensates; who damages, who recovers; who pollutes, who cleans" have been recognized by the society.

He said, ecological compensation system could help balance interests of different sides in rebuilding green western China.

Zhang Lijun, deputy director of the State Environment Protection Administration, suggested that China could refer to other countries or organizations in establishing an ecological compensation system.

"Western provinces should cooperate with international organizations in this field as extensively as possible," said the official.

[hkskyline]

Shanghai to ration power from today
Elaine Kurtenbach
June 15, 2005

Shanghai will ration electricity supplied to industry from today to help bridge the gap between supply and demand during the hot summer months.

City officials said all industrial operations could face shutdowns during the hottest weeks, from the middle of next month through to the end of August, and that thousands are likely to suspend production or transfer work to overnight shifts.

The city faces a potential peak demand of 19 million kilowatts, about two million more than the grid is equipped to handle, Shanghai Daily reported.

Many cities across China face similar problems as demand from booming industries competes with rising electricity consumption by millions of air-conditioners. Shortages of coal used to fuel power plants have added to the problem.

Rolling brownouts are common, especially during hot summers.

Five new generators have boosted power by one million kilowatts to 11.4 million kilowatts. Shanghai will also buy about six million kilowatts from other provinces.

Last year, the city dimmed landscape lighting and ordered air-conditioners in shopping malls adjusted to 26 degrees. In addition, officials said, summer entertainment venues will be told to switch off air-conditioning during the hottest hours.

China's top economic planning agency has received instructions to devise plans to cope with blackouts.

Beijing views the potential for economic loss and social problems arising from such disruptions as serious, said the National Development and Reform Commission.

"We must use resources well and ensure secure and stable electricity supplies for the economy, society and people's living conditions,'' it said.

Building standby power sources for airports, subways, hospitals and other vital facilities is another priority. It was also reported that more will be spent on electrical power facilities.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

[hkskyline]

Disaster warning as pollution levels soar
AFP
June 20, 2005


Residents in Zhangjiakou city, Hebei province, are faced with a bleak scene as they walk to the county's power plant Sunday. Pan Yue, a top mainland environmental official, called at the weekend for 'green' growth to prevent ecological disaster. AFP

A top mainland environmental official has questioned whether China should embrace being the "factory to the world" and called for "green" growth to prevent ecological disaster, according to state media.

State Environmental Protection Administration deputy director Pan Yue said the mainland "has paid a high environmental price" for 20 years of rapid economic development, Xinhua News Agency said Sunday.

With the economy expected to quadruple by 2020, China faces an "environmental crisis" coupled with social problems unless it corrects its practice of developing first and cleaning up later, he warned.

Speaking at an environmental forum Saturday, Pan warned that at the current pace of industrialization, the mainland will suffer from heavily polluted air and water as well as a depletion of its natural resources.

"The pollution load of China will quadruple in 2020, when the country's GDP quadruples, if the pace of pollution remains unchanged," he said.

By then, the mainland would only have reserves of six major mineral resources out of the current 45, according to Pan.

The level of pollution the mainland is experiencing now is far worse than that which developed countries went through when they were at a similar stage of industrial development, he said.

Serious pollution is occurring now in China, where per-capita GDP lingers between US$400 and US$1,000 (HK$3,120 and HK$7,800), whereas it only emerged in Western countries when per-capita GDP reached US$3,000 to US$10,000, said Pan.

In his blunt warning, he questioned whether China should be proud that it has become factory to the world.

As the world's biggest manufacturer, the population giant is using up its resources and polluting its environment to produce goods for countries all across the globe, said Pan.

The mainland ranks first in water consumption and sewage discharges, and second in energy consumption and carbon dioxide discharges, said the news agency.

Its total energy consumption is seven times that of Japan, six times that of the United States and 2.8 times that of India.

Wasteful and damaging development is also leading to a depletion of habitable land.

Since 1949, land suitable for people to live on has shrunk from six million square kilometers to three million square kilometers now, due to serious soil erosion, said Pan. He blasted the commonly accepted strategy of China "developing first and preventing and controlling pollution later" as "absolutely wrong."

The mainland, he also declared, should instead immediately embark on "green growth."

[hkskyline]

Big polluter bucks plan to move out of Beijing
July 4, 2005
AFP

Beijing's worst polluter has bucked a plan to move out of the city before the 2008 Olympics, breaking ground this weekend for a 6.4 billion yuan (HK$6.01 billion) steel plant near the airport.

The cold-rolled plant owned by Capital Iron and Steel, the nation's fourth-biggest steel producer, is being built in Beijing's north-central Shunyi district and will produce 1.5 million tonnes of steel a year, the Beijing News reported Sunday.

According to a previously approved plan, the steel company was expected to move all its production facilities to Caofeidian in neighboring Hebei province by 2010, where it would be located near deep water ports on the Bohai Sea.

The firm, also known as Shougang Iron and Steel, has long been the capital's worst polluter, belching out clouds of smoke and up to 40 percent of city's annual particulate matter.

Billions of dollars of investment had been poured into the company - which is still largely located in Beijing's western Shijingshan district - to keep it competitive. More than US$2 billion (HK$15.6 billion) was spent on pollution control facilities, reports said.

However, the failure to curb serious pollution and the transport bottlenecks caused by the factory's location, away from both resources and markets, had led to increasing calls for its relocation.

Company bosses said relocation would cost some 40 billion yuan.

Beijing's Olympic action plan, issued three years ago, promised to spend US$5.4 billion to make the capital an "ecological city'' with "green hills, clear water, grass-covered ground, and blue sky'' by the time of the 2008 Olympics.

Under the slogan "Green Olympics,'' the city has shut down a number of heavily polluting local enterprises.

But the capital remains one of the world's most polluted cities, mainly due to industry, traffic fumes and sandstorms from the Gobi desert.

[hkskyline]

British to help China build 'eco-cities'
Frank Kane
Sunday November 6, 2005
The Observer

British engineers will this week sign a multi-billion contract with the Chinese authorities to design and build a string of 'eco-cities' - self-sustaining urban centres the size of a large western capital - in the booming country.

Arup, the London-based consulting firm that has already signed up for one such project near Shanghai, will announce it has clinched a deal to extend the concept into a string of cities around China.

The eco-cities are regarded both as a prototype for urban living in over-populated and polluted environments and as a magnet for investment funds into the rapidly growing Chinese economy.

A signing ceremony is expected to take place in Downing Street this week during the state visit of the President of the People's Republic, Hu Jintao. The Shanghai Industrial Investment Company - a partly state-owned corporation quoted on the Hong Kong stock market - will sign on behalf of the Chinese.

Peter Head, the Arup director in charge of the first eco-city, at Dongtan near Shanghai, said: 'We are going to help establish a model of how a sustainable city works, but it must also be a viable financial proposition in the long term to attract international investment.'

The Dongtan development, on an island in the mouth of the Yangtze river near Shanghai, aims to build a city three-quarters the size of Manhattan by 2040. The first phase will accommodate some 50,000 people. It is on target to be open by the time of the Shanghai Expo trade fair in 2010.

Up to four more eco-cities will be built, though exact locations have not yet been revealed. Experts believe that the real challenge will be to build them in China's interior, in regions that have been polluted by heavy industry and depopulated by the movement of millions of Chinese people to the booming Pacific coast.

Head said: 'It is part of a new awareness of the environment by the Chinese government. They realise that with their growing population and economy they have to overcome the problems of environmental pollution and resource depletion.'

The eco-cities are intended to be self-sufficient in energy, water and most food products, with the aim of zero emissions of greenhouse gases in transport systems.

Head said: 'It is no gimmick. It is being led at the highest levels of the Chinese government. They are very committed to developing a new paradigm of economic development.'

One international property group, Dublin-based Treasury, has already signed up with SIIC for a €1 billion investment in the Dongtan project. Arup hopes to announce other investors and give detailed costings of the project by the end of the year.

[sages]

eco-city?

what is the proper translation?

[null]

^生态城市

[hkskyline]

Shanghai set for 40b yuan environmental cleanup
13 January 2006
South China Morning Post

Shanghai plans to invest at least 40 billion yuan in environmental protection over the next three years to prepare for the World Expo in 2010, a senior government official said yesterday.

Shanghai government deputy-secretary Hong Hao said the focus of investment would be building and renovating infrastructure for environmental protection, such as water treatment plants, and rubbish collection and recycling sites for both residential and industrial use.

The construction of such facilities would take up 80 per cent of the budget while the rest would be spent on cleaning up pollution, he said, as the government unveiled a three-year environmental plan.

"Generally speaking, Shanghai's environment is improving year by year. But we still have a long way to go to reach the standard of a world metropolis," Mr Hong said.

Shanghai treats only 70 per cent of waste water, but hopes to raise that level to more than 75 per cent in the next three years. In suburban and rural areas, only 16 per cent of waste water is treated.

Increased car ownership has contributed to air pollution in Shanghai. During rush hour, nitrogen oxide levels typically exceed state standards by eight times in the city centre. In 2004, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and particulate levels all increased over 2003.

Mr Hong declined to give figures for last year, but said more than 85 per cent of days had "good" air quality and the city hoped to maintain that level.

Experts said the figure was misleading because Shanghai only sampled air quality at a limited number of sites at a height far above street level.

Shanghai aimed to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions, especially from coal-fired power plants, and raise vehicle emission standards to the European Union level three, Mr Hong said. He gave no timetable.

The city also hoped to increase the processing of household rubbish to 80 per cent, he said, but gave no figure for the current percentage. Shanghai has just completed a site for the disposal of hazardous materials, such as chemicals, and aims to put it into use soon.

Shanghai has identified the World Expo site, located on both banks of the Huangpu River, and Chongming Island as special concerns for improving the environment by increasing "green space" and reducing the use of chemical fertiliser on the island.

[WUCN]

i am a student majoring environmental science in Sichuan University, so i am happy to read your reports cited.

I think the conflict between economic development, population growth, environment protection etc. is a very difficult problem that should be pay much attention.

[didu]

and I'm extremly sad and pissed off!!!!!

basically, the program was about a village in HeNan along the Bai river. the river
is so polluted that it's totally poisonous, and even the underground water now
contains lots of cancer causing chemicals, a large number of people from that
village have got cancer and the water they drink is so dirty that you wouldn't even
use it to wash the dirty on the road.

the pollution all comes from the upper stream and mostly from the small paper
making factories. the national environment department had already come to
see the problems and ordered most of these factories to be shut down. the local
government also tells the media that these factories are shut down, but in fact
none of them are shut down -- they just close their doors in the day and flush
all the dirty water into the river at night.

I wonder if there is anything that can be done about this. how can people be so
selfish and evil? how can the lives of our own people be so cheap! I wish there
was a law that would force the greedy sons of bitches from these paper making
factories to drink their own polluted water and every single local official that's
involved with these factories would be sentenced to death.

[wigo]

天哪，连didu都跑出来发了个处女贴，情况一定很严重！！！！

[didu]

那个地方简直就不是人住的, 村民们太可怜了!!!

[wigo]

怎么说呢？中国之大，难啊！

[didu]

难什么? 如果我说了算得话, 搞恶意污染的企业, 抓住一个砸烂一个, 搞恶意污染的人, 抓住一个枪毙一个. 我保证你半年之内没人再敢搞恶意污染!