China's populations is growing. They are manufacturing more and more cheap goods for export to other countries. The disgrace of their workers poverty pay and living conditions which is often akin to that of an indentured servant is actually made even worse by what is happening to the environment. It's horrific. Air quality was so bad in one city of millions that they had to shut it down today. What is even scarier is the reality that what they pollute there pollutes everywhere, the same goes for India and other countries who have yet to get a handle on the devastating effects of air pollution.
(http://i.imgur.com/EQckapV.jpg)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/21/us-china-smog-idUSBRE99K02Z20131021
Quote
(Reuters) - Choking smog all but shut down one of northeastern China's largest cities on Monday, forcing schools to suspended classes, snarling traffic and closing the airport, in the country's first major air pollution crisis of the winter.
An index measuring PM2.5, or particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5), reached a reading of 1,000 in some parts of Harbin, the gritty capital of northeastern Heilongjiang province and home to some 11 million people.
A level above 300 is considered hazardous, while the World Health Organisation recommends a daily level of no more than 20.
The smog not only forced all primary and middle schools to suspend classes, but shut the airport and some public bus routes, the official Xinhua news agency reported, blaming the emergency on the first day of the heating being turned on in the city for winter. Visibility was reportedly reduced to 10 meters.
The smog is expected to continue for the next 24 hours.
Air quality in Chinese cities is of increasing concern to China's stability-obsessed leadership because it plays into popular resentment over political privilege and rising inequality in the world's second-largest economy.
Domestic media have run stories describing the expensive air purifiers government officials enjoy in their homes and offices, alongside reports of special organic farms so cadres need not risk suffering from recurring food safety scandals.
The government has announced plans over the years to tackle the pollution problem but has made little apparent progress.
Users of China's popular Twitter-like Sina Weibo microblogging site reacted with both anger and bitter sarcasm over Harbin's air pollution.
"After years of effort, the wise and hard-working people of Harbin have finally managed to skip both the middle-class society and the communist society stages, and have now entered a fairyland society!" wrote on user.
Other parts of northeastern China also experienced severe smog, including Tangshan, two hours east of Beijing, and Changchun, the capital of Jilin province which borders Heilongjiang.
Last week, Beijing city released a color-coded alert system for handling air pollution emergencies, to include the temporary halt of construction, factory production, outdoor barbeques and the setting off of fireworks.
Beijing suffered its own smog emergency last winter when the PM2.5 surpassed 900 on one particularly bad day in January.
(Reporting By Adam Rose; Editing by Ben Blanchard and Michael Perry)
I'd make an educated guess that the whole world will look like that picture one day (barring a concerted effort by all countries to stop things like population growth, corporate dominance, all sorts of environmental pollution, etc)
I love China. Beautiful country. Shame to see it looking like that.
China is a mess. Between all of that yall mentioned, and the unnecessary over-building with all of those hi-rise ghost towns, and the oppressive government, it seems like a mad-max post-apocalypse movie or something. *que the random far-left anti-US comment outta no where, sigh*
^^^ "I'm sure that you can figure it out".
^^^Very contrasting to all of those ghost cities there. Shanghai, Beijing and a few other metros are the exceptions to the rule.
^^^Are you under the impression that all of China is peaches and cream? China is perfect, okay Stephen. Jesus, so predictable with the sugarcoating of China....
^^^They still have that oppressive government there; No matter what atmosphere; Whether bustling metropolis, pristine scenic setting, ghost town, or smog filled industrial site.
^^^
Quote from: I-10east on October 21, 2013, 05:02:15 PM
China is a mess. Between all of that yall mentioned, and the unnecessary over-building with all of those hi-rise ghost towns, and the oppressive government, it seems like a mad-max post-apocalypse movie or something. *que the random far-left anti-US comment outta no where, sigh*
^^^Good point. Although the way that China is headed, it probably will collapse. You think that the 2008 US financial crisis was bad, let China keep on building those ghost town hi-rises that no one can afford to live in.
^^^
www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/watch/?id=50142079n
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPjGWcM3Awc
www.youtube.com/watch?v=InqAzvX6UrI
Interesting videos and comments. I was unaware of the "ghost towns".
But the ghost towns are not surprising, given the controlled economy. Waste, ruin, and tragedy are sometimes the consequences of any dictatorial top-down planned economy such as existed with the Soviets throughout the 20th century, and which exists currently with the Chinese. These top-down, controlled economies, and huge projects involving large populations, cities, and large areas, are frequently forced and over-controlled; and therefore sometimes fail because the systems and projects are engaged without the valuable input from the natural pressures, forces, and needs which guide free economies of the West.
Any dynamic system should function in an environment of freedom, so that needs, abilities, and resources can achieve the balance which ultimately allows for success. Excessive control in any complex system, unless perfect in every way, usually causes waste, and sometimes ultimate failure.
Quote from: I-10east on October 21, 2013, 05:02:15 PM
China is a mess. Between all of that yall mentioned, and the unnecessary over-building with all of those hi-rise ghost towns, and the oppressive government, it seems like a mad-max post-apocalypse movie or something. *que the random far-left anti-US comment outta no where, sigh*
Spoken like someone whose never been to China...
^^^Those ghost towns, and the oppressive government are facts, so your "I haven't been there" comment holds no weight. I haven't been to Antarctica either, but I know that it's cold....
^^^What kinda sugar are you sprinkling on China, Domino or Dixie Crystals?
I haven't been to China. I've only recently engaged the fact, via the videos, that at least some cities, large cities, are being built, along with perhaps some outlying neighborhoods, and that they are destined to be empty for an apparently unknown period of time.
Is this "emptiness" in the cities ...... are the abandoned projects, planned? Are the cities planned and built to be "ghost cities"? And if so, I wonder for what period of time have they been planned to be empty?
Perhaps, given the way some top-down governments work, and remembering the Soviets... the elites within the Chinese dictatorship have a plan as to how these cities are to be populated. After all, they have enough people to easily fill all the apartments and businesses. All the dictatorial machine must do is order certain segments of the rural population to move into and fill the ghost cities.
How long can the government and the investors endure the upkeep and zero income from the empty cities?
It seems to me that if they do not have a viable plan for infill that can be implemented within a year or two, then the entire scenario is vulnerable to a huge downturn, or even a crash or a burst of the bubble created by the huge investments and building projects.
We will see. Perhaps the Chinese know something we don't know. Perhaps they do have a plan for filling the ghost cities.