List of world’s most polluted places a grim warning

By Wang Wenwen Source:Global Times Published: 2013-11-8 0:18:01

Green Cross Switzerland, an international environmental organization, published a study on Tuesday listing the world's 10 most polluted places of 2013, of which eight countries are involved, Argentina, Bangladesh, Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria, Russia, Zambia and Ukraine. These countries are highlighted owing to presence of high levels of pollutants that affect people through direct inhalation, food intake or skin contact.

While we pity people living in these places, the rest of the world should take the list as a warning. Developed countries have been some of the worst global polluters.

Western nations have emitted greenhouse gases since the industrial revolution. And developing societies were deeply influenced by the ways of the developed world. Andrew Simms, policy director of the UK-based New Economics Foundation had earlier noted that China's rapid development made Western countries move their factories here, resulting in a situation where China's greenhouse gas emissions were "largely driven by higher levels of consumption in the West."

It is also worth noting that although the fresh listing of polluted places by the green group did not include any Chinese location, we should not feel relief.

Pollution in China seems to have become a notorious issue worldwide. If one looks for the word "pollution" on Google, he or she would find China's name thrown up most by such search engines. Some media outlets have also headlined China's air pollution as a matter of "life and death."

It is the Chinese people that suffer most from the country's environmental problems. People complain about the suffocating smog that poses a threat to their health and compromises their daily lives.

On Tuesday, Xie Zhenhua, China's top negotiator at international climate talks warned that air pollution in China is harming its citizens.

Meanwhile, there has been public concern over China's rapid industrialization and economic development models. The public blames the policy of simply chasing miraculous economic growth at the great cost to the environment. Environmental pollution has become a source of public fury and social problems.

In February, some Chinese activists drew a map on which over 200 of the country's villages were called "cancer villagers" because of air and water pollution. The map not only drew attention but also caused anxiety in society.

Around the same time, a businessman from Zhejiang Province in East China vented his anger against "industrial demise" by offering a local environment protection official some 200,000 yuan ($32,838) to take a 20-minute dip in a local river. The incident reflected undercurrents of tension between the public and officials on environment.

China has a long way to go in its fight on the environmental front but it should work toward the future incentive of having as many places in the country as possible labeled "cleanest places in the world" by environmental organizations.



Posted in: Observer

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