What will we do when countries such as China and India begins to live like Americans in regards to pollution?
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kjc1971 (
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August 5th, 2009
What will we do when countries such as China and India begins to live like Americans in regards to pollution? Since Americans are responsible for 75% of the pollution in the world, what would happen if the world’s largest population of people in China and India began polluting like us Americans? Do you think it is possible? If so what are some solutions?
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9 Answers
” the worlds largest population of people in China and India began polluting like us Americans?”
Where are you getting your information. China and the asian countries are so polluted they have to wear masks when walking outside.
They already are pretty bad. Here are just a few maps for perspective.
And a fun fact: Dubai isn’t too far behind. That place is going to be a cesspool pretty soon.
Our lungs will desinigrate(sp?) and our plants will turn to acid
ChazMaz, you are wrong. We are talking about environmental degradation. The western world is responsible for something like 70% (not sure of the exact number but its big) of the world’s waste. We externalize all our problems to third world countries including our waste and our pollution. I suggest you check out the documentary “The Story of Stuff”.
kjc1971, we discussed this type of question in my university environmental course. And basically, god help us if that happens. The western world doesn’t even have that much of a population and yet we’ve shredded this planet into pieces. The developing countries have more of a sustainable lifestyle at the moment. They don’t own 3 cars per household, or 3 ACs, 20 printers, things there are easier to fix than to replace. More people resuse and recycle. But you know that in America, it is easier to buy a new printer than to fix it, or a refrigerator. I have seen people throw out perfectly good furniture when they are moving out. Just thrown like that.
Our economy is built on consumerism which leads to environmental degradation.
This is why there is an ever increasing demand to lower our carbon emissions, because when India and China adopt an American style of living, we’re going to need to learn to be humble in our living.
I guess it comes down to what you consider “pollution”. I’m an atmospheric scientist, so I guess I have my head in the clouds when it comes to this type of thing. The truth is, when it comes to emissions such as carbon, NOx, etc, those countries are bad. They don’t have many of the same regulations that we have in the US. Remember how at the Beijing olympics, some of the athletes didn’t want to participate because of the poor air quality? Well, it is a huge problem.
Also, there’s developing countries and developing countries. It’s unbelievable how much waste China dumps in their rivers.
Innovate even faster, because we have no choice. Vote for parties who are serious about renewable energies and cradle to cradle manufacturing models.
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