Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
or the El Nino phenomenon, increasing the aware-
ness of the potential negative implications climate
change can have, the visibility and awareness of
the potential challenges climate change carry will
increase as well. However, the above-mentioned
challenge of establishing a specific scientific link
between climate change and a specific environ-
mental issue represents a particularly prominent
topic regarding the relationship between climate
change and extreme weather patterns, as it still
proves a challenging undertaking to establish a
scientific link between them, albeit more and
more indications pointing towards the existence
of such a relationship.
Consequently, although environmental degen-
eration and climate change representing major
political, economic, and social issues they still do
not command the serious response they should.
Not at least because of the contemporary elusive
visibility and the still less apparent causality of
their impacts, especially in the case of climate
change. Nevertheless, changes in perception are
already manifest as both visibility and causality of
the implications of climate change increase, with it,
the demand of addressing and dealing with it. With
the scientific question progressively addressed,
it will be easier to mobilize an adequate political
response. Nonetheless, visibility and the concrete-
ness of an environmental issue are still of critical
relevance when it comes to the mobilization of a
political response. After this initial discussion of
the underlining issues regarding the environmental
question, the following section will focus on the
specific environmental challenges China faces.
environmental accidents; and various forms of
climate change impacts. The seriousness of the
environmental issue China is confronted with is
recognized in the 11
th
Five-Year-Plan (FYP) for
environmental protection by stating: 'the im-
provement of environmental quality [represent]
an important component for the implementation
of the scientific outlook on development and
development of socialist harmonious society'
(The National Eleventh FYP for Environmental
Protection 2006-2010). The Party and the gov-
ernment also indicating a rather straight forward
attitude when assessing the 10
th
FYP period and
the Plans' failure on several issues in reducing the
negative impact on the environment, by pointing
out that several of its targets were not met. For
example, the target of reducing SO2 emission
of 10% were not only not achieved, instead the
actual SO2 emission increased by 27,8%. There
is also an acknowledgment of the existence of
other continuous and severe environmental is-
sues like the quality of drinking water in key
cities, the increase in the number of days with
haze in various big and medium-sized cities as
well as increasing issues of rural soil pollution.
(The National Eleventh FYP for Environmental
Protection 2006-2010). In many cases, pollution
issues - water and air - representing the pressing
environmental challenges China's population is
confronted with.
5
Even though Figure 1 indicates a
decrease in the number of environmental pollution
and destruction accidents, it seems that the severity
of the accidents increases as the direct economic
cost continuously increases, though there was a
spike in 2004 (Figure 2). In the case of urban air
pollution, which represents a serious pollution
issue, Figure 3 indicates that improvements were
achieved,. Yet, this positive trend needs further
qualification as the data is based on a small sample
of thirty-one selected cities. Even as the pollution
issue signifies a critical environmental issue for
China, this should not negate the increasingly
negative impact climate change has on China's
environment and its population.
CHINA'S ENVIRONMENTAL
CHALLENGES
It is beyond question that China faces a critical
and complex environmental challenge, character-
ized by a range of specific issues. Among them,
we can identify: land degradation; water scarcity;
