In early April, an American satellite spotted a dense yellow cloud of gases, chemical and desert sands floating across Seoul (Korea) – emissions from China’s coal-fired smokestacks. This weekend, the Korean government retaliated by launching Greenbelt Plantation Project. The Korean forestry service plans to plant 1.5 million trees in Mongolia to help reduce sandstorms wafting across the Yellow Sea, which bring its residents respiratory illnesses.

 

It is not that China is ignoring the problem, but that the country’s breakneck GDP growth rate is not only impacting global commodity prices (oil, copper, nickel, uranium, etc), but could also be accelerating the effects of abrupt climate change and global warming.

It made me think of a XKCD cartoon. Google for [xkcd global warming], and check the little guy with the long monologue.

 

I have little to say about China's growth. Europe and the USA, with more money to spend per person, are only managing to achieve a few percent in growth of their sustainable energy.

Our sustainable energy growth percentage is less than China's economic growth percentage.

 

Therefore, if Europe and the USA are the example to follow, China should be expected to pollute more and more.

 

Conclusion: there is no good example to follow in the world. (At least, no example on a scale that really matters).

ashleycory, do you plan on discussing any of the threads you've started? Because cutting and pasting the work of others is plagiarism. If this is your work and you're spreading it around the web, then that is not the purpose of this science discussion forum.

 

Please respond or your threads will be removed.