Pulitzer prize winning author, Jared Diamond examines how great civilizations in the past have collapsed, offering insight to how modern society can benefit from their failures. While Diamond focus on several civilizations in his book, in this blog I will focus my discussion only on one…China, and their developing modern problems~
Diamond highlights China’s environmental problems in the following categories. Air, water, soil, habitat destruction, biodiversity losses, and mega-projects. He explains how air pollution in China is the worst in the world, with acid rain falling in ¼of their cities (over half of their rainy days annually). To top that off, water quality in China is some of the worst in the world, with severe water shortages in over a hundred cities annually. Additionally, some business suffers halts in industrial production due to lack of water. Perhaps if businesses were more efficient about their use of water, or they reclaimed more of it, they would not need to shut down entire factories due to the lack of H20.
Soil problems such as desertification are affecting China, and since the country does not have many recycling programs according to Diamond, many of the cities are surrounded by trash. I am interested to see how bad their environment is as I have studied solutions to such problems, and soon China will need to step up to the plate and do a better job taking care of their environment. Also, since fish consumption is a large part of the Chinese diet, overfishing has resulted in massive depletions of Chinese fishery stocks. Many species of fish which once flourished in the rivers and coastal waters must now be imported, while Chinese rivers have recently been closed down to overfishing. Diamond explains how China and the rest of the world falls into the Tragedy of the Commons…where there is a conflict for resources between individual interests and the common good. Fortunately, new standards are being taken practicing sustainable fishing.
Additionally, China’s bio-diversity is at risk with over 10 percent of the world’s plant and terrestrial vertebrate species living in China. Unfortunately many of these species, such as the Panda, are endangered due to China’s bulging population. The author blames China’s escalating habitat destruction is mostly from the fact that their nation is consuming wood faster than they can renew it. Diamond points out that Big business often maximized its profits in the short term by harming the environment and people. Though, some businesses are becoming sustainable with the help of government, Diamond argues that these environmental business will need public support in order to survive. He suggests that the only way that business can be successfully eco-friendly is for the public to prefer to buy eco-friendly products, thereby increasing demand for these goods, driving away competitors who can often produce the same product more inexpensively by using environmentally harmful methods. Diamond points out that without government intervention and support from consumers it will be difficult for environmentally friendly business to prosper.
Another important aspect which Diamond confronts is how international trade has effected China’s environment. A 60 fold increases in international trade has resulted in invasive species becoming major problem in China. These pests effect agriculture, and as have been known to be a primary cause of food shortages. In a nation struggling to feed over a billion hungry mouths, the last thing they need is an invasive beetle eating their crops. The author also confronts a unique problem of exporting which we often overlook….Homosapien exportation.China is exporting humans at alarming rates. While studying abroad in New Zealand in 2004 I was privileged to witness first hand how dramatic of an effect China is having on an island nation such as New Zealand. With a population of just over a million people, the New Zealand and Australian governments are granting permanent visas to Chinese in order to boost their countries revenue. Unfortunately, this is becoming a controversial issue, and I was able to see it first hand. New Zealand is experiencing the effects of a growing foreign population as the cities are growing at rates higher than ever before.
Diamond continues to point out China’s worldwide effect on global air quality. The country has exponentially increasing Carbon Dioxide emissions & the world’s highest sulfur oxide emissions. China is nice enough to share these pollutants with parts of Asia and the south pacific as the particles are propelled eastward to Korea, Japan and eventually across the US, and Canada, due to their coal-burning economy. Ironically, the pollutants which are produced by American Industries in China are eventually blown back into the country. It’s kinda like pissing in the wind. Nobody wins.
More and more, the Chinese have the desire for the standards of living similar to first world consumers. This is an extremely frightening thought. While it is selfish of privileged Americans to want to keep our first world standards and not share, the implications of China’s standard of living, rising to first world standards could be horrific. In ‘Collapse’ Diamond explains if China’s one billion people were to increase their per capita consumption rate, this would nearly double the total resource use and environmental impact of China. In a country which already has extreme environmental problems, the effect of this rise in the Chinese standards would affect everyone. Diamond anticipates that China’s problems will becomes the rest of the world’s problem. There’s no way around it.
Since China’s joining the WTO, it has lowered the tariffs and increased imports and exports. Diamond suggests that one benefit which could result from China’s WTO involvement is that more strict environmental standards would be enacted in the country. Diamond elaborates on disturbing facts in ‘Collapse,’ but he does see light at the end of the tunnel. China has begun to recognize that environmental problems are arriving in China. With the Olympics arriving in 2008, China has begun to erect a Greenwall or treebelt is being built around Beijing to stop harmful dust and particles to reach the city. Additionally, China has enacted air pollution restrictions on cars mirroring those in Europe. Over 1,000 nature reserves have been created to help preserve its biodiversity. Other Chinese methods of environmental progress mentioned by Diamond include replanting projects, raising fish in rice fields and logging bans.While these environmental solutions alone will not solve the environmental problems produced by one billion Chinese, they are on the right track.
Diamond points that the ‘top down’ government style of China is beginning torecognize that population is no longer the largest problem to their bulging country, but rather it is the environmental problems resulting from its people. China’s interests will need to include the environment if it wants to sustain itself as the next world superpower.
Another interesting point Diamond presents is how pollution intensive firms move to China to do business. Some of these companies have left their countries of origin to set up shop in China as they are now illegal in China. One such industry which has affected me has been the surfboard industry. The once dominant Clark Foam, which produced nearly all the foam needed for surfboard production, was shut down in December of 2005, due to increasing pressure from stringent CaliforniaState and federal EPA standards. Now that Clark foam is no longer producing surfboard blanks, production in China will surely increase, as ‘cookie-cutter’ board are now being produced in mass quantities in China, and supplied by warehouse stores such as Costco.It seems unfortunate that pollution intensive industries of first world countries being sent to the China. Not only are American companies loosing revenue, but our country is often hit like a boomerang with the same environmental problems we originally tried to banish.
As a fellow geographer, Diamond explains the phenomenon of struggling civilizations in a way which I can truly appreciate.Using my MBA degree and undergraduate Environmental Science BS degree I am optimistic that I may be able to create a positive impact about the way China is currently doing business. While correcting environmental problems is sometimes costly and inconvenient, methods are available which increase efficiency which would in turn increase revenue and help conserve the countries environment for the next billion Chinese. Nobody wants to live in a world where you have to walk around with a gas mask on, and worry about picking up a disease when you walk outside. China seriously needs to confront these issues as they are heading down a dangerous road.
Deep in the remote western mountains of the Xinjiang province in China, local botanists search for miracle drugs to share with the world. Drug companies such as Swiss drug giant Novartis AG are looking at China for new drugs from ancient Chinese remedies that exist in plants and fungi native to the country. Due to the increasing costs of developing new drugs, companies such as Swiss drug maker Novartis are optimistic that traditional Chinese medicinal cures will lead them in the battle to fight modern diseases.
It is important to recognize there is a fundamental difference from the way China and the way the West discovers drugs. Over centuries, Chinese medicine men have tweaked concoctions with variable amounts of different substances until they achieve their desired medicinal purpose. This was mainly completed by trial and error, so Chinese doctors are not certain which parts of the body the medicine is targeting. Alternatively, western doctors take the reverse approach by finding the targeted area of the body, and working backwards to find the correct chemical compound to cure the problematic area. This is why collaboration between the East and West will probably not occur.
Fortunately, drug companies such as Novartis and French Drug maker Servier are working together with the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica (SIMM), to isolate the active compounds in Chinese traditional medicine by testing the raw extracts from plants collected by Chinese biologists. Over the past three decades SIMM has been hunting for the rare plants and herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat ailments ranging from cancers to common aches and pains. The way Novartis sees it, ‘China has thousands of years’ experience of using plants in Chinese traditional medicines. The idea was, why not use the Chinese experience as a kind of filter.
Novartis has previously used traditional Chinese cure for fever to fight malaria with the plant with a native ‘sweetworm’ plant. The cure for this disease was found written on silk in a tomb which dates back during the West Han Dynasty which existed over 2200 years ago. In the 1970s scientists working for the Chinese military used this drug in Vietnam to combat malaria. Novartis later decided to make a deal with the Chinese to purchase rights to the sweetworm plant for several million dollars. Today, over 1,000 natural products have come to Novartis working with SIMM, resulting in cures for a number of diseases. As the multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical industry progresses into the next generation it will become increasingly important for them to protect their future…and defend the world’s endangered environments.
Now you may be asking yourself…why should business worry about preserving the natural environment of China? There are several moral issues to this question. First, If China continues to grow westward as it currently is, many of the drugs which organizations such as SIMM are searching for will become extinct before they are obtained. It is estimated that 15 to 20 percent of higher plant varieties in China are endangered (threatening the existence of 40,000 species of organisms related with them). Continued westward expansion of Chinese industry could threaten these species which may hold the answers for solving the world’s most crippling diseases.
Second, by preserving their environment the Chinese government can ensure the next generation of Chinese will have enough to eat, clean water to drink, and healthier people. China already has the worst air quality in the world. Fortunately, China is now awakening to these rising environmental issues and is taking action by building reserves, botanic gardens, protecting endangered endemic species and by building genetic banks for rare plants. Additionally, with the Olympics coming in 2008 their government is attempting to give China more eco-friendly by erecting a ‘greenwall’ or ‘treebelt’ around Beijing to stop harmful dust and particles from reaching the city.
Lastly, helping out the environment is an important ethical issue. Many businesses operating today maximizing profit in the short-term by harming their environment and their people. Take for example the logging industry in China. With forests being cleared in China, not only is the world loosing reserves potentially for future miracle drugs, but these trees no longer exist to filter out CO2 and other pollutants in the air which filter out other diseases such as bird flu or SARS. Does this mean they should stop cutting down trees? Of course not. At the same time, business’ must be aware and responsible for the actions they make and the consequences which result.
With nearly 10 million kilometers of land, holding over 10 percent of the world’s plants and terrestrial vertebrate species, China’s rich biodiversity is faced with a critical situation. With international trade increasing in China at increasing rates, exotic pests and invasive plants are creating additional stress for the already endangered varieties of medicinal plants, fungi and herbs.Who is responsible for saving the Chinese environment? While the government is playing an important role, I believe business’ need to play a stronger role in protecting these future resources.The pharmaceutical industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. Imagine the economic difference between finding a fungus in the Chinese forest which holds a cure for Alzheimer’s vs. clear cutting a few acres of the same forest to sell as lumber. The answer should be obvious…
Pulitzer prize winning author, Jared Diamond examines how great civilizations in the past have collapsed, offering insight to how modern society can benefit from their failures. While Diamond focus on several civilizations in his book, in this blog I will focus my discussion only on one…China, and their developing modern problems~
Diamond highlights China’s environmental problems in the following categories. Air, water, soil, habitat destruction, biodiversity losses, and mega-projects. He explains how air pollution in China is the worst in the world, with acid rain falling in ¼of their cities (over half of their rainy days annually). To top that off, water quality in China is some of the worst in the world, with severe water shortages in over a hundred cities annually. Additionally, some business suffers halts in industrial production due to lack of water. Perhaps if businesses were more efficient about their use of water, or they reclaimed more of it, they would not need to shut down entire factories due to the lack of H20.
Soil problems such as desertification are affecting China, and since the country does not have many recycling programs according to Diamond, many of the cities are surrounded by trash. I am interested to see how bad their environment is as I have studied solutions to such problems, and soon China will need to step up to the plate and do a better job taking care of their environment. Also, since fish consumption is a large part of the Chinese diet, overfishing has resulted in massive depletions of Chinese fishery stocks. Many species of fish which once flourished in the rivers and coastal waters must now be imported, while Chinese rivers have recently been closed down to overfishing. Diamond explains how China and the rest of the world falls into the Tragedy of the Commons…where there is a conflict for resources between individual interests and the common good. Fortunately, new standards are being taken practicing sustainable fishing.
Additionally, China’s bio-diversity is at risk with over 10 percent of the world’s plant and terrestrial vertebrate species living in China. Unfortunately many of these species, such as the Panda, are endangered due to China’s bulging population. The author blames China’s escalating habitat destruction is mostly from the fact that their nation is consuming wood faster than they can renew it. Diamond points out that Big business often maximized its profits in the short term by harming the environment and people. Though, some businesses are becoming sustainable with the help of government, Diamond argues that these environmental business will need public support in order to survive. He suggests that the only way that business can be successfully eco-friendly is for the public to prefer to buy eco-friendly products, thereby increasing demand for these goods, driving away competitors who can often produce the same product more inexpensively by using environmentally harmful methods. Diamond points out that without government intervention and support from consumers it will be difficult for environmentally friendly business to prosper.
Another important aspect which Diamond confronts is how international trade has effected China’s environment. A 60 fold increases in international trade has resulted in invasive species becoming major problem in China. These pests effect agriculture, and as have been known to be a primary cause of food shortages. In a nation struggling to feed over a billion hungry mouths, the last thing they need is an invasive beetle eating their crops. The author also confronts a unique problem of exporting which we often overlook….Homosapien exportation.China is exporting humans at alarming rates. While studying abroad in New Zealand in 2004 I was privileged to witness first hand how dramatic of an effect China is having on an island nation such as New Zealand. With a population of just over a million people, the New Zealand and Australian governments are granting permanent visas to Chinese in order to boost their countries revenue. Unfortunately, this is becoming a controversial issue, and I was able to see it first hand. New Zealand is experiencing the effects of a growing foreign population as the cities are growing at rates higher than ever before.
Diamond continues to point out China’s worldwide effect on global air quality. The country has exponentially increasing Carbon Dioxide emissions & the world’s highest sulfur oxide emissions. China is nice enough to share these pollutants with parts of Asia and the south pacific as the particles are propelled eastward to Korea, Japan and eventually across the US, and Canada, due to their coal-burning economy. Ironically, the pollutants which are produced by American Industries in China are eventually blown back into the country. It’s kinda like pissing in the wind. Nobody wins.
More and more, the Chinese have the desire for the standards of living similar to first world consumers. This is an extremely frightening thought. While it is selfish of privileged Americans to want to keep our first world standards and not share, the implications of China’s standard of living, rising to first world standards could be horrific. In ‘Collapse’ Diamond explains if China’s one billion people were to increase their per capita consumption rate, this would nearly double the total resource use and environmental impact of China. In a country which already has extreme environmental problems, the effect of this rise in the Chinese standards would affect everyone. Diamond anticipates that China’s problems will becomes the rest of the world’s problem. There’s no way around it.
Since China’s joining the WTO, it has lowered the tariffs and increased imports and exports. Diamond suggests that one benefit which could result from China’s WTO involvement is that more strict environmental standards would be enacted in the country. Diamond elaborates on disturbing facts in ‘Collapse,’ but he does see light at the end of the tunnel. China has begun to recognize that environmental problems are arriving in China. With the Olympics arriving in 2008, China has begun to erect a Greenwall or treebelt is being built around Beijing to stop harmful dust and particles to reach the city. Additionally, China has enacted air pollution restrictions on cars mirroring those in Europe. Over 1,000 nature reserves have been created to help preserve its biodiversity. Other Chinese methods of environmental progress mentioned by Diamond include replanting projects, raising fish in rice fields and logging bans.While these environmental solutions alone will not solve the environmental problems produced by one billion Chinese, they are on the right track.
Diamond points that the ‘top down’ government style of China is beginning torecognize that population is no longer the largest problem to their bulging country, but rather it is the environmental problems resulting from its people. China’s interests will need to include the environment if it wants to sustain itself as the next world superpower.
Another interesting point Diamond presents is how pollution intensive firms move to China to do business. Some of these companies have left their countries of origin to set up shop in China as they are now illegal in China. One such industry which has affected me has been the surfboard industry. The once dominant Clark Foam, which produced nearly all the foam needed for surfboard production, was shut down in December of 2005, due to increasing pressure from stringent CaliforniaState and federal EPA standards. Now that Clark foam is no longer producing surfboard blanks, production in China will surely increase, as ‘cookie-cutter’ board are now being produced in mass quantities in China, and supplied by warehouse stores such as Costco.It seems unfortunate that pollution intensive industries of first world countries being sent to the China. Not only are American companies loosing revenue, but our country is often hit like a boomerang with the same environmental problems we originally tried to banish.
As a fellow geographer, Diamond explains the phenomenon of struggling civilizations in a way which I can truly appreciate.Using my MBA degree and undergraduate Environmental Science BS degree I am optimistic that I may be able to create a positive impact about the way China is currently doing business. While correcting environmental problems is sometimes costly and inconvenient, methods are available which increase efficiency which would in turn increase revenue and help conserve the countries environment for the next billion Chinese. Nobody wants to live in a world where you have to walk around with a gas mask on, and worry about picking up a disease when you walk outside. China seriously needs to confront these issues as they are heading down a dangerous road.
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If there is a ramp set up near 'the wall', I'd love to try it :-)
By Jared Diamond
are surrounded by trash. I am interested to see how bad their environment is as I have studied solutions to such problems, and soon China will need to step up to the plate and do a better job taking care of their environment. Also, since fish consumption is a large part of the Chinese diet, overfishing has resulted in massive depletions of Chinese fishery stocks. Many species of fish which once flourished in the rivers and coastal waters must now be imported, while Chinese rivers have recently been closed down to overfishing. Diamond explains how China and the rest of the world falls into the Tragedy of the Commons…where there is a conflict for resources between individual interests and the common good. Fortunately, new standards are being taken practicing sustainable fishing.
The author blames 
exporting humans at alarming rates. While studying abroad in 
living, rising to first world standards could be horrific. In ‘Collapse’ Diamond explains if 
