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The East Is Grey

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The East Is Grey

China and the Environment

The Economist,

5 min read
5 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

A dangerous byproduct of China’s growing economy and industrialization, severe pollution threatens the world.

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Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Scientific
  • Eye Opening
  • Overview

Recommendation

Over the past few decades, China has emerged as a formidable and growing economic powerhouse. But rampant air and water pollution are unfortunate by-products of increased industrialization and consumerism. Greater uses of alternative energy and stricter government regulations are taking hold, albeit slowly, but China’s – as well as the rest of the world’s – ecological future remains uncertain. getAbstract recommends this revealing report to business executives, policy makers and environmentalists with an eye on China’s growing threat to the global environment.

Summary

Photos of Chinese citizens walking the smog-filled streets of Beijing with surgical masks over their faces have become common. In January 2013, during one of Beijing’s worst pollution episodes, the region’s 200 coal-fired power plants and five million automobiles produced so much smog that the air had 40 times the level of pollutants that the World Health Organization considers to be safe. Public concern about an “airpocalypse” sparked a response. In mid-June, the government took steps, taking local officials to task for environmental infractions, setting prosecutions of environmental crimes, and pledging $275 billion...

About the Author

The Economist is a weekly news magazine published by The Economist Group.

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