World Bank says Pollution kills 460,000 Chinese a year
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World Bank says Pollution kills 460,000 Chinese a year

The logo of the World Bank
For a while now I have known that the number of people that develop lung cancer in China by living in a densely populated metropolis area was high. This is an article I read at the environmental news network about the horrible pollution in China. I have known the numbers were bad, but according to a study conducted by the World Bank, 460,000 Chinese people die pre-maturely from breathing polluted air and drinking dirty water!

This is an insane amount of people, and one would think that the government is trying to do something about it. These numbers are so mouth dropping that the Chinese government itself begged for the study not to be released for fear of social unrest by the people. The study goes on to estimate the costs due to respiratory problems from breathing outdoor pollution and from diarrhea and cancer problems from drinking polluted water. These costs are outrageous.

The World Bank is also concerned by indoor air pollution, principally breathing in fumes from coal-burning stoves and cooking oil. Its experts estimate that as many as 300,000 Chinese a year die prematurely in this way.

Hearing stories like these saddens me. I don’t know if there is much we can do except urge the environmental movement to keep on raising awareness of the dangers of pollution.

JT (423 Posts)

Just living life in Portland, Oregon and enjoying every day that goes by. I love the environment, and I love community, and I love being able to share my experiences and perspective with the world. Follow @EnvironmentBlog


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  • Sister_Sunshine

    having had to put my dog down last night due to kidney failure due to eating dog food that was poisoned by the Chinese, sorry today as un-Christian of me as this sounds… I've got no sympathy today…

  • JT

    I can completly understand you agony with having to put your dog down for a pet food mishap…I would like to remind you however, that Chinese pollution is so bad that it is drifting overseas and ending up on the West Coast here in the states, scientists have collected samples of air pollution that hasn't orginated here in the U.S…pollution unfortunately is a global problem which we should all be actively concerned about :P

  • eredux

    Check this Map out, has United States Interactive Carbon Footprint Map, illustrating Greenest States. This site has all sorts of stats on individual State energy consumptions, demographics and State energy offices.http://www.eredux.com/states/

  • The Takeout Wench.

    sister_sunshine, I am very sorry about your loss. However, being mad at all of the Chinese population for the contaminated dog food problem makes no sense. I imagine that some people in China are currently devastated that their loved ones have died due to this awful situation. Would you be able to tell them that they're at fault for the death of your dog?

  • Raimi, Sam

    Poisoned by the Chinese, indeed. Sometimes I wonder if people like Sister Sunshine ever realize the depths of their abhorrant racism, or if they really do go through life thinking that they are the enlightened, righteous Westerners that the media joyfully pats them on the back for being

  • Anonymous

    "Expect Chinese, not Japanese cars to flood the American market, and prevail because of Mao's revenge, – a self-regenerating army of country girls in their prime, manning Chinese factories for 55 cents an hour, and working 12 hour shifts, 7 days a week, pooping in floor slot toilets, sleeping on 3'x6' mats on the floor in the factory, eating at the in-factory cafeteria, wearing company uniforms 24 hours a day, color coded to indicate their departments, return to the peasant farms whence they came when burned out, pensionless and no economic burden to anyone, to die an early and convenient death!" from the web! As long as the top dogs of communism can get away with this sort of human abuse, even our own jobs in America are at risk! But what to do? We must communicate to the Chinese people, they are being badly treated!

  • Fred Smilek

    What are some organizations that are currently helping this specific problem?