Ever wondered what is “acceptable” in terms of pollution? Well, depends where you are. Residents with good memory will recall when China Daily was regularly publishing pollution data of major cities in China. Suddenly, what was “poor” became “much better”. Tweak tweak.
Then, as it became really too ugly, no more publications. Gone.
On the other hand, China Daily does not hide it all. See here what they published in October, comparing WHO standards with Chinese one.
I let the graphics talk for themselves. Clear (and worrying) enough.
I also found this statement from economist Muhammad Yunus, winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize:
“Global warming is now at a serious stage, and greenhouse gas emissions are increasing. Europe is concerned, but the USA does nothing and refuses to sign the Kyoto Protocol. All China’s power is based on dirty fuel, and China’s emissions will become worse and worse. Next to follow is India. So, now three nations have joined the club. The real problem is lifestyle. And now China is aping America’s wasteful lifestyle”
Of course, he is just an economist. How can he understand.
But let us put it all in perspective, With all the talk about China and consuming “all the oil”, see here a graphic just published in the IHT.
Needless to say(?) China has 1.3 billion people versus ??? in the USA.
300 million people in the US.
Just to add on, I think a better graphic by the IHT would have been to show the consumption of oil as a ratio (per # of people, for example) instead of total consumption. The US would probably still be at the top, but I don’t think it would be quite as an effective graphic when you want to show the US as the big bad guy.
I also have to add that hybrid vehicles are becoming increasingly popular in the US and the last time I went to Belgium, about 1.5 years ago, I never saw a single one. Many people I talked to about it weren’t even aware of their existence, which seems odd for a country so focused on global warming and where gas is insanely expensive.
Finally, is the consumption by the military included in that graphic? All those fighter jets, ships, and tanks have got to consume great amounts of oil. And let’s face it, the US has been using those a lot.