China is a country full of contradictions. In some of its parts, there is a beautiful natural landscape while total and uncontrollable pollution is destroying other parts of this vast country. Beijing and other territories are currently known for their smog problems, which pose severe health risks. Unregulated pollution of some rivers represents a universal phenomenon. Chinese leaders have promised to deal with this issue, but any change in the country where the industry, which is the most significant pollutant, keeps growing at a rapid pace will be challenging.
Pollution in China
A child drinks water near a stream in Fuyuan county, Yunnan province March 20, 2009. World Water Day will be observed on March 22. Picture taken March 20, 2009. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)
Fishermen row a boat in the algae-filled Chaohu Lake in Hefei, Anhui province, June 19, 2009. The country has invested 51 billion yuan ($7.4 billion) towards the construction of 2,712 projects for the treatment of eight rivers and lakes including Huaihe River, Haihe River, Liaohe River, Chaohu Lake, Dianchi Lake, Songhua River, the Three Gorges region of the Yangtze River and its upstream area, Xinhua News Agency reported. REUTERS/Jianan Yu (CHINA ENVIRONMENT SOCIETY BUSINESS IMAGES OF THE DAY) FOR BEST QUALITY IMAGE ALSO SEE: GM1E57T19EY01 – RTR24T8T
A woman wearing a mask walk through a street covered by dense smog in Harbin, northern China, Monday, Oct. 21, 2013. Visibility shrank to less than half a football field and small-particle pollution soared to a record 40 times higher than an international safety standard in one northern Chinese city as the region entered its high-smog season. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT
A boy swims in the algae-filled coastline of Qingdao, Shandong province July 15, 2011. Picture taken July 15, 2011. REUTERS/China Daily (CHINA – Tags: ENVIRONMENT SOCIETY SPORT SWIMMING IMAGES OF THE DAY) CHINA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN CHINA – RTR2OXK8
This picture taken on December 13, 2011 shows a woman collecting a sample of the red polluted water flowing from a sewer into the Jian River in Luoyang, north China’s Henan province. The cause of the river becoming apocalyptic in character was red dye being dumped into the city’s storm water pipe network, by two illegal dye workshops,the Luoyang Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau said on December 14, 2011, as authorities said they were working to shut down the workshops, and to disassemble the workshops’ machinery. AFP PHOTO CHINA OUT
LIANYUNGANG, CHINA – DECEMBER 08: (CHINA OUT) Buildings are shrouded in smog on December 8, 2013 in Lianyungang, China. Heavy smog has been lingering in northern and eastern parts of China since last week, disturbing the traffic, worsening air pollution and forcing the closure of schools. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images)
This photo taken on July 18, 2006 shows cyclists passing through thick pollution from a factory in Yutian, 100km east of Beijing in China’s northwest Hebei province. Surging levels of carbon dioxide sent greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to a new record in 2013, while oceans, which absorb the emissions, have become more acidic than ever, the UN said on September 9, 2014. AFP PHOTO / PETER PARKS
A woman collects plastic bottles near a river where water is polluted with a reddish dye in Dongxiang, in east China’s Jiangxi Province
A worker looks at a photographer from a door of a factory manufacturing screws and nuts next to a polluted river in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province March 15, 2012. China’s continuing reliance on heavy industry meant it failed to meet its own targets for cleaning its air and water in 2011, the head of the top planning agency told journalists on Monday. REUTERS/Stringer
A fisherman fills his cupped palms with water from the algae-filled Chaohu Lake in Hefei, Anhui province, June 16, 2009. The country has invested 51 billion yuan towards the construction of 2,712 projects for the treatment of eight rivers and lakes including Huaihe River, Haihe River, Liaohe River, Chaohu Lake, Dianchi Lake, Songhua River, the Three Gorges region of the Yangtze River and its upstream area, Xinhua News Agency reported.
A fisherman wades in Chaohu Lake, covered in blue-green algae, in Chaohu city, Anhui province, July 19, 2013. REUTERS/China Daily
Photo credit: Reuters, Petapixle.com, William Hong, lu palmerini, Peter Parks, China FotoPress, Kyodo News, Jianan Yu
