Question

Steger notes on page 93 states, “In the last few decades, however, the scale, speed, and depth of Earth’s environmental decline has been unprecedented.” Please identify ecological resources of China and describe some challenges and points of resiliency in China.

Please address some information about China from the following:

Demographic information such as the population and the geographic (urban v. rural) and age distribution; include rate of population growth

Descriptive stats: annual oil consumption per capita, autos per 1000 people, annual meat consumption, annual withdrawal of water per capita; include global average or two or three other countries for context

Share of land use in agriculture, forest, other; do the sectors face particular ecological challenges?

Are the major exports from the extractive sector (mining, lumber)? How sustainable are the practices?

Is water (for drinking, irrigation) scarcity a pressing constraint?

Does China have an extensive coastline? Is sea-level rise or increasing intensity of hurricanes, cyclones and tornados a problem?

A ecology-related item in the news

Answer 1

Ques 1: Please identify ecological resources of China and describe some challenges and points of resiliency in China.

Ans 1: Ecological resources implies natural resources. China's natural resource list includes-

1. Mineral resources and raw materials including coal, iron ore, gold, diamonds, bauxite, crude petroleum, antimony, mercury, molybdenum, graphite, aluminium, zinc, barite, tungsten, steel, magnetite, manganese, natural gas, phosphate rock, uranium, tin and vanadium.
2. Water Resources (Rivers and Rainfall): The country has ~2500 Km³ of mean annual run-off in its rivers and ~800 Km³ of groundwater recharge.
3. Agriculture: ~12.6% of the country's total land area is cultivable. Major crops grown include - rice, wheat, corn, barley, tomato, sorghum, soybean, tea, cotton and tobacco. Livestock production of pigs, chickens and eggs is among the largest in the world.
4. Aquaculture: There's tremendous fresh and saltwater fishing and aquaculture - making China a world leader in both fishing and aquaculture. Most of its offshore area is fit for marine fisheries, aquaculture, and rearing fish.
5. Forests and Wildlife: China's home to more than 7,500 species of vertebrates including thousands of fish, birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians. One-fifth of its land is covered by dense forests with ~111 million hectares declared as closed forests (virgin, old growth or naturally-regrown woods).

Challenges to China's ecological resources -

• Pollution of air, water, land etc. Air pollution is the most severe (almost 20 times the safe limit!). Air-borne toxins are giving rise to unique health complications- killing millions of people every year. Furthermore, over half of the country's groundwater has been deemed as unsafe. More than one-third of its fish species in the Yellow River have been wiped out! etc.
• Other challenges include- deforestation, widespread displacement, land reclamation and the loss of natural coastal habitats, climate change and natural disasters.

Points of Resilience - Endeavours to overcome ecological challenges-

• The country's making an effort via -
  • responsible governance
  • outbound and long term investment
  • encouraging green innovations
• Steps are being taken to dismantle coal-fired power-plants, lessen emission levels and cut down on particulate-matter emission rates.
• Ministry of Environmental Protection has been transformed into a new entity viz. Ministry of Ecology and Environment with wider & clearer responsibilities. It oversees water-related policies and matters pertaining to Climate change, among other crucial tasks.
• Environment taxes have been imposed to help fund its environmental policies. The government is also trying to attract more green investment.

Ques 2: Please address some information about China from the following:

a) Demographic information such as the population and the geographic (urban v. rural) and age distribution; include rate of population growth

Ans-

• Population: 1.39 billion (as of 2017)
  • urban population: ~ 806 million
  • rural population: ~ 584 million
• Age distribution (as of 2017)-
  • 17% aged below 14 years
  • 72% aged between 15 and 64 years of age
  • 11% aged above 65 years
• Population growth
  • grew by 0.6% in 2017

b) Descriptive stats: annual oil consumption per capita, autos per 1000 people, annual meat consumption, annual withdrawal of water per capita ; include global average or two or three other countries for context

Ans-

• annual oil consumption per capita-
  • 3.3 barrels per person per year
• autos per 1000 people-
  • 173
• annual meat consumption-
  • 50 Kg per person per year
• annual withdrawal of water per capita, include global average or two or three other countries for contex-
  • 436 m³ of freshwater per person per year (as against 2,162 m³ in New Zealand, 1,583 m³ in USA and 883 m³ in Greece)

c) Share of land use in agriculture, forest, other; do the sectors face particular ecological challenges?

Ans-

• Agriculture-
  • ~12.6 % of China's land is cultivable.
  • Of this, 75% is used for food crops especially rice (raised on 25%)
  • other cultivations include oilseeds - Chinese soybeans, peanuts etc, Citrus fruits especially Mandarins and green, black and jasmine teas, Arabica coffee and sugarcane, and sugar beets.
• Forests-
  • One-fifth (i.e. 20%) of the land's covered by forests
  • Of these 3% represent tropical forests, 59% are subtropical, 29% are temperate and 8% are polar.
• For ecological challenges please refer to Ans 1 above