China — the coal-face of pollution

AN ENGLISH language (EFL) teacher I know emailed me from China last week. He lives and works in one of the many hundreds of Chinese cities with a population of more than one million . His dim glimpses of China on the ground — or rather, on a bicycle — may interest readers.

He says, “Cycling to work yesterday, I could barely see the bicycle in front of me. It was like a scene from Dickensian London. Bikes are still in the majority but, on the business programmes on TV, it’s all talk of cars. Cars for the one thousand, three hundred million people. Most don’t know what global warming is, and those that do wouldn’t let such a notion stop them buying a car. The only time we had clear skies in this city in the last year was when a dignitary came to visit, so all the factories were told to shut down for the day.”

Carbon dioxide emissions in China are increasing faster than in any other country on our planet. The US, subscribing 25% of greenhouse gases is still the leading polluter, but China is in second place and will match America within two decades.