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Started By
Message
China admits pollution brought about 'cancer villages'
Posted on 5/5/14 at 1:14 pm
Posted on 5/5/14 at 1:14 pm
quote:
The Chinese government has admitted for the first time that so called ‘cancer villages’ exist, as decades of pollution take their toll on the health of Chinese citizens.
For years environmental campaigners in China have said that cancer rates in villages near factories and polluted rivers are far higher than they should be.
Now China’s Environment Ministry has admitted their existence and has called for greater transparency on environmental issues.
quote:
According to a long-term study completed in 2011 by the Chinese Ministry of Environment Protection and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, over 90% of the groundwater in cities was polluted to different degrees. Of 118 major cities, 64 had seriously contaminated groundwater supplies. This is highly alarming, as 70% of China’s population relies on groundwater for their drinking water.
quote:
“Poor environmental regulations, weak enforcement and local corruption mean that factories can discharge their waste water directly into rivers and lakes”, according to Greenpeace East Asia.
It is mainly water pollution, which is the cause of the high rates of cancer in areas where factories discharge chemicals into rivers, which have earned these settlements their name of ‘cancer villages’.
Cancer is now China’s biggest killer, with an 80% rise in mortality from the disease in the last 30 years, according to data from the Chinese Ministry for Health.
One of China’s leading environmentalists, Ma Jun, said that admitting there is a problem is major step in the right direction.
quote:
As well as water pollution, air pollution is also a major problem in China. Lung cancer rates continue to mushroom, because of air pollution as well as the number of people who smoke.
The main cause of Chinese air pollution is coal and particular its use in generating electricity. Coal supplies 80% of the country's electricity and 70% of its energy – as well as the lion's share of its air pollutants, according to figures published by Greenpeace East Asia.
LINK /
What implications, if any, might these revelations have on Chinese labor and manufacturing of US knick knacks? Will China implement more strict regulations and raise the cost of doing business enough to deter US outsourcing?
Is this an indictment on the "Free Market" way of doing things, or is China not a fair representation of the concept?
This post was edited on 5/5/14 at 1:15 pm
Posted on 5/5/14 at 1:18 pm to theunknownknight
I recognize this has nothing to do with Benghazi, Obama, race, or homosexuality. I am trying to diversify the poliboard portfolio.
Posted on 5/5/14 at 1:21 pm to Tiguar
I think there is a fine line of regulation. Some is needed because no regulation is dangerous but over regulation is just as dumb. The US is over regulated and China isn't regulated enough
Posted on 5/5/14 at 1:22 pm to deltaland
quote:how so?
The US is over regulated
Posted on 5/5/14 at 1:27 pm to deltaland
This is where I tend to fall but I have trouble reconciling this with libertarian philosophy. I want to accept it, I really do, but there're some road blocks I just cannot get past.
It is more intellectually honest to say "all regulation is bad" than it is to say "some regulation is bad", because then by what metric do you determine which regulations are bad and which are good?
An argument I heard on another board was that china has too much central planning to be considered a true free-market system, despite lax regulations.
I suppose I just find these types of scenarios interesting as they challenge my political leanings.
It is more intellectually honest to say "all regulation is bad" than it is to say "some regulation is bad", because then by what metric do you determine which regulations are bad and which are good?
An argument I heard on another board was that china has too much central planning to be considered a true free-market system, despite lax regulations.
I suppose I just find these types of scenarios interesting as they challenge my political leanings.
This post was edited on 5/5/14 at 2:01 pm
Posted on 5/5/14 at 1:29 pm to Tiguar
Just let the market sort it out.
Posted on 5/5/14 at 1:31 pm to Tiguar
quote:
Will China implement more strict regulations and raise the cost of doing business enough to deter US outsourcing?
Robots are already taking back manufacturing to the U.S. It just doesn't translate to more manufacturing jobs here.
Automation will continue to make China's future questionable. They also have a problem with a sex imbalance that is just starting to manifest itself.
Posted on 5/5/14 at 1:33 pm to Tiguar
We had a strong haze this past week. The only times we have this is when there are fires in the Yukon or in BC. Meteorologists traced it back to China.
LINK
It was strong here in S.E. Ak. You couldn't even see the mountains on the Chilkat Peninsula to the West.
LINK
quote:
The federal agency reported the haze was fallout from soot pumped out of Chinese smokestacks only to climb into the upper atmosphere, spin around over the North Pacific Ocean, and finally drop back down over Anchorage and the Cook Inlet region.
"Meteorologists and researchers have the ability to 'rewind' the path to see where (the pollution) starts," the agency reported on its Facebook page. "In our case today, that 'launch' was well over 5,000 miles away and from 14 days ago."
It was strong here in S.E. Ak. You couldn't even see the mountains on the Chilkat Peninsula to the West.
This post was edited on 5/5/14 at 1:36 pm
Posted on 5/5/14 at 1:38 pm to Tiguar
Someone posted a story recently about this. It was a Chinese guy who lived in the US and went back to visit his childhood home where people used to bath in the water, but now it's full of toxins.
Remediation costs would be astronomical
Remediation costs would be astronomical
Posted on 5/5/14 at 1:40 pm to a want
quote:
Just let the market sort it out.
In China?
Posted on 5/5/14 at 1:41 pm to RogerTheShrubber
Expanding on this
LINK /
Crazy stuff.
quote:
The smog that covers the majority of Chinese cities, including its capital, Beijing, has become so thick it is impeding photosynthesis, potentially disrupting China’s food supply. According to an associate professor at China Agricultural University, He Dongxian, if air pollution continues, China will experience something akin to a “nuclear winter.”
According to the country’s vice-minister of the Chinese Environmental Protection Ministry, Wu Xiaoqing, 71 out of 74 cities monitored in China over 2013 did not meet state environmental standards with various degrees of problems.
LINK /
Crazy stuff.
Posted on 5/5/14 at 1:43 pm to Tiguar
quote:
This is where I tend to fall but I have trouble reconciling this with libertarian philosophy. I want to accept it, I really do, but there's some road blocks I just cannot get past.
It is more intellectually honest to say "all regulation is bad" than it is to say "some regulation is bad", because then by what metric do you determine which regulations are bad and which are good?
Milton Friedman on regulation
Posted on 5/5/14 at 1:48 pm to Tiguar
A segment of 60 Minutes last night dealt with the effects of nuclear R&D in one o the Soviet Union "stan" regions of it. The residents have never received compensation for the freaks born as a result.
Posted on 5/5/14 at 1:52 pm to BRUNNIN4
quote:
Milton Friedman on regulation
Very insightful. Thanks for posting.
Posted on 5/5/14 at 1:52 pm to CITWTT
quote:
A segment of 60 Minutes last night dealt with the effects of nuclear R&D in one o the Soviet Union "stan" regions of it. The residents have never received compensation for the freaks born as a result.
Your point? Why would you trust a country to properly regulate something if they refuse to pay any damages? What is their motivation for the added cost when they have no fear of any consequences down the line?
Posted on 5/5/14 at 2:08 pm to Tiguar
quote:
The smog that covers the majority of Chinese cities, including its capital, Beijing, has become so thick it is impeding photosynthesis, potentially disrupting China’s food supply. According to an associate professor at China Agricultural University, He Dongxian, if air pollution continues, China will experience something akin to a “nuclear winter.”
According to the country’s vice-minister of the Chinese Environmental Protection Ministry, Wu Xiaoqing, 71 out of 74 cities monitored in China over 2013 did not meet state environmental standards with various degrees of problems.
I thought man wasn't capable of affecting the climate?
Posted on 5/5/14 at 2:15 pm to Jim Rockford
quote:
Johnstown Flood
Seems awfully similar to Katrina and NOLA, just the ACOE levies failed instead of industrial dams.
This post was edited on 5/5/14 at 2:16 pm
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