Effects of global warming being felt in China

CTV.ca | Effects of global warming being felt in China

Effects of global warming being felt in China

When it comes to the world's worst polluters, the United States still leads the way, but China is set to soon take over as the largest overall producer of greenhouse gases. Many are wondering if any steps can be taken to ensure the country doesn't repeat the mistakes of the West.

With China's growing population with growing wealth and mass industrialization, the effects of global warming are already being felt.

At the home of Li Wen Zhang in Langtougou, about 110 kilometres from Beijing, years of warming temperatures have literally brought the desert to Li's doorstep.

Dry conditions have turned his village's once-fertile farm fields into a parched wasteland. His livestock live in sand dunes. Li's home is almost covered over. A local river that once ran waist-deep with water is now filled with sand.

"Some say I am like the fable of the old foolish man, trying to remove a mountain," he says.

The climate in China has changed quickly. Scientists estimate that in the last 50 years, the temperature in the populous country has increased by one degree Celsius.

That may not seem like a lot, but it has devastated this region. A local riverbed, for example, once flowed with water waist high; now it flows mostly with sand.

Chinese cities are also feeling the stifling effects of global warming. If it's not sand storms choking Beijing and other cities, it's heavy pollution causing problems. Many airports have been forced to close for hours at a time because pilots couldn't see through the soup of haze.

The country's growing use of coal for energy has experts predicting that by year's end, China will be the world's largest overall producer of greenhouse gases, surpassing the U.S. -- although the U.S., Canada, Australia and Luxemburg still produce far more greenhouse gases on a per capita basis.

With international pressure mounting, China is starting to turn to alternative energy sources. China is building windmill farms that house more than 300,000 turbines. However, it also opens up a new coal-fired power plant every week.

The government also plans to have its citizens curb electricity use by 20 per cent. But with a growing middle class consuming more power than ever, few expect targets to be met.

"If there's only target without any implementation policy, the target means nothing," said Ai Lun Yang of Greenpeace.

Chinese officials are urging the world to be patient, arguing it is still a developing country that is faced with more pressing problems like poverty.

In Li's village, the government donates thousands of trees to act as a buffer against the desert.

But it will have to do far more to prevent China from becoming the world's largest climate polluter -- and to control the damage that global warming-driven climate change is causing.