CONTENT

In international conferences on climate change, a common point of debate is the accelerated release of pollutants into the environment, mainly the disproportionate release of pollutants by the major economic powers.

We are well aware that the main economic powers are the privileged sites occupied by China and the United States of America. However, the pollutants that both nations expel into the environment not only harm their ecosystems and citizens, but also impoverish the environment of other countries.

In the last decade, the Asian giant has been ranked as the country that releases the most pollutants into the environment, hence, according to climate health experts, if China does not make major reductions in the release of pollutants into the environment, the world cannot win the fight against climate change.

One point to note is that, while countries such as the United States face problems in reducing their emissions, China faces the greatest challenge as it is currently facing uncontrolled population growth, a highly dangerous element for the health of the world's climate.

Source / Author: Geralt, 2012

According to official data, China became the largest emitter of pollutants in the middle of the last decade, and today, this Asian powerhouse is responsible for more than a quarter of global discharges of carbon dioxide, the main pollutant of the environment on a global scale.

The outlook is not encouraging, because even though China is promoting large-scale environmental projects, it plans to install new conventional power generation plants and expand its capacity to generate fossil fuel-based products.

SOURCES CONSULTED

➊ Wenjia C The 2020 China report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change. Link

OBSERVATION:

The cover image was designed by the author: @lupafilotaxia, incorporating the public domain image background: Source / Author: TheDigitalArtist, 2014