We held our January 11, 2014 Luncheon meeting and our co-president, Dr. David Pena spoke on the topic of "China and the Global Environmental Crisis: Is
China polluting the World?".
The presentation gave an overview of the environmental problems facing China, including air and water pollution, soil erosion, water shortages and desertification. David also discussed the questions of whether China is "polluting the world" and whether it is responsible for climate change. These questions must be considered in the context of a globalized economy. Given that much of China's pollution is the result of the developed countries off-shoring their dirty industries to China and other developing countries, it was concluded that China is not entirely to blame for the pollution that it produces. Some responsibility must be borne by the developed countries that use China as a manufacturing base to supply goods for their own consumption. Regarding climate change, historical data on greenhouse gas emissions from 1750 to the present were used to show that China's per capita greenhouse gas emissions and total historical emissions are small compared with the developed countries, particularly the United States. Therefore, China is not to blame for the climate crisis; nevertheless, this does not excuse it from taking responsibility for lowering its emissions in the future. The presentation concluded with a discussion of what China is doing to mitigate its environmental problems
The presentation gave an overview of the environmental problems facing China, including air and water pollution, soil erosion, water shortages and desertification. David also discussed the questions of whether China is "polluting the world" and whether it is responsible for climate change. These questions must be considered in the context of a globalized economy. Given that much of China's pollution is the result of the developed countries off-shoring their dirty industries to China and other developing countries, it was concluded that China is not entirely to blame for the pollution that it produces. Some responsibility must be borne by the developed countries that use China as a manufacturing base to supply goods for their own consumption. Regarding climate change, historical data on greenhouse gas emissions from 1750 to the present were used to show that China's per capita greenhouse gas emissions and total historical emissions are small compared with the developed countries, particularly the United States. Therefore, China is not to blame for the climate crisis; nevertheless, this does not excuse it from taking responsibility for lowering its emissions in the future. The presentation concluded with a discussion of what China is doing to mitigate its environmental problems
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