The magnitude of the environmental waste and destruction in Chinais so staggering as to be hard to comprehend. Sixteen of the world's 20 most polluted cities are in China. Nearly one-third of all Chinese lacks access to potable water, with a per-capita supply about one-quarter the global average. More than 70% of China's rivers, lakes and streams are heavily polluted. Every year, nearly 6000 square miles of grasslands and forests are lost to desertification. Desert sands claim an area equivalent to New Jerseyevery five years. One impact among many is an unprecedented number of choking sandstorms, more than quadruple the number compared to just ten years ago.
Chinese air is now a nasty brew of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and ozone. Many regions of China can now lay claim to the most polluted air in the world. The situation is only getting worse, because automobiles are now the leading cause of dirty air, even though China imposes emissions and mileage standards that well exceed those in the United States. If Chinaachieves parity with the United Stateson per-capita automobile ownership, China alone would have 1.1 billion cars compared to the global fleet today of 800 million.
Acid rain is so pervasive and severe that crop yields have declined in about 30% of the country, and buildings are being seriously damaged in every urban area.
The impact of air pollution on human health is enormous. From 2001-2006, a study conducted by Nanjing University showed that air pollution caused an increase in birth defects by an astonishing 50%, affecting 1.2 million babies. Respiratory diseases are now a leading cause of death in adults. A report from the United Nations in 2002 concluded that 23,000 respiratory deaths, 13,000 fatal heart attacks and 15 million cases of bronchitis were directly attributable to air pollution. The World Health Organization estimates that air pollution kills 656,000 Chinese each year.
