WorldChanging ally Roel Groeneveld links to and updates our post from a few days ago about China's environmental challenge. Groeneveld adds a few more useful and interesting links for those of us interested in China and the environment. Of particular note is a description/review of a four-part series in the Asia Times called The Ruined Land by Jasper Becker, the author of the National Geographic article in our earlier post:
The Death of China's Rivers
Peasants Bear the Brunt of China's Energy Plans
China in an Energy Quandary
China Awakens to its Devastated Environment
The articles are long; the review link gives good capsule summaries of each. Obviously, these are not inspiring models of doing the right thing. But WorldChanging readers in the West -- particularly the United States -- may be more accustomed to thinking about how bad things are at home, and may not be aware of the scale of the challenge in China. The key 21st century battle to save the planet may well be fought in the Middle Kingdom.
Comments (3)
Absolutely...and it extends beyond the environment into every facet of socio-economic life here!
Posted by Stefan Thomas | March 19, 2004 5:13 AM
Posted on March 19, 2004 05:13
Anyone interested in more information on China's environmental situation should check out Vaclav Smil, a professor at the University of Manitoba.
http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~vsmil/
Smil has just published a book entitled: "China's Past, China's Future: Energy, Food, Environment" -- he pumps out a tome every year (!), and if this one is any like his others it should be noteworthy.
Posted by Chris Evans | March 24, 2004 2:22 PM
Posted on March 24, 2004 14:22
I read Smil's earlier work in graduate school. He's the leader in the field, alright. Thanks for the pointer to his latest!
Posted by Alex Steffen | March 24, 2004 2:54 PM
Posted on March 24, 2004 14:54