East+Asia+Environmental+Issues,+RS

= ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES OF EAST ASIA =

Rachel Seo A Block



==== One of the reasons for industrialization in East Asia was to catch up with the Europeans, since East Asia started the process way after Europeans became developed. Because of this, China, Japan and Korea have gone through the industrialization process rapidly, ignoring transitions in between and often forgetting to protect the environment. While this rapid industrialization has helped East Asia develop fast and stand on equal footing with the Westerners, it has brought some problems: environmental issues. ====

==== Today East Asia struggles with environmental problems and disasters. One most common environmental problem that all three countries have is air pollution, though the level of pollution is remarkably different in each country. To help you get started, here is some basic knowledge of air pollution. ====

**Air Pollution**
==== Air consists of 99.9% of nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor, and inert gases. Today, human activities release substances, which damage the air and bring out other problems. There are two types of air pollution: the release of particles, and the release of noxious gases. The release of particles, which is also called black carbon pollution, happens from burning fuel for energy. Some examples include burning of fuels in automobiles, homes and industries. Noxious gases, such as sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and chemical vapors can form smog and acid rain once they are released into the air. ====

** Health Effects: Short-term and Long-term **
==== Air pollution can affect our health, but the specific effects can differ depending on the individual and the time an individual was exposed to the pollution. For instance, some people with health problems such as asthma, and heart and lung disease can suffer more, and young children and the elderly are often more sensitive to air pollution. ====

==== Since 1978, China has gone through rapid economic growth. It is now first in production of coal, steel, cement and 10 kinds of teal. Over the last three decades, it has even emerged as a manufacturing and trading powerhouse in the world. It is predicted that by 2035, Chinese economy will be better than the economy of the United States. However, China is “the world’s manufacturer but also its despoiler” (TIME). It consumes the world’s natural resources. It uses half of the world’s steel and concrete, and today, a quarter of the country is desert. More than third quarter of the country’s forests have disappeared, and it’s suffering from environmental disasters like acid rain, fire, water pollution, and air pollution. The Yangtze River, which is Asia’s longest river, is estimated to die soon due to a billion tons of untreated sewage every year. China’s overfishing and overhunting have endangered fish and animal species. The environmental damage in China takes up 10% of China’s GDP, which means that basically every year, the damage wipes out the GDP growth. Not only do environmental issues affect China, but they also affect the world. Sixteen of the twenty most polluted cities of the world are in China, and China is a great contributor to global warming today. It ignores international environmental and social standards when building roads, bridges, and dams. ====

====// “In China’s thousands of years of civilization, the conflict between humankind and nature has never been as serious as it is today...The depletion, deterioration and exhaustion of resources and the worsening of ecological environment have become bottlenecks and grave impediments to the nation’s economic and social development.” //====

==== Japan was the first country to modernize and industrialize in East Asia. It has turned from an agricultural society to an urbanized industrial power. After World War II, they started building their country again and quickly industrialized. During the 1950’s and 1960’s, Japan prioritized modernizing industry and raising incomes ahead of the environment, causing a great deal of pollution. In 1956, a new disease called Minamata was discovered in the people of Minamata, on the coast of Shiranui Sea. Methyl mercury had accumulated in fishes and shellfishes, causing those who ate them to acquire the disease. About 200,000 people who lived on the coast of the Shiranui Sea were involved in fishery and other related jobs. The residents of the coast were used to eating large quantities of fishes and shellfishes. The symptoms of the disease, coordination, walking disturbance, and tremor, were typical symptoms of methyl mercury poisoning. This event raised awareness of environmental protection in Japan. By 1990, this nation had the world’s strictest environmental protection regulations. ====

==== Today, it proudly stands as one of the wealthiest and the most developed country in the world. It is also considered as the cleanest country of Asia, along with Singapore and Malaysia. However, Japan is the world’s leading importer of exhaustible energy resources and the world’s fifth largest emitter of greenhouse gases. It is also one of the largest consumers of fish in the world. The number of prized bluefin tuna (“the diamond of the sea”), are dramatically decreasing. ====







==== South Korea developed rapidly during the 1970’s, under Chunhee Park, a dictator who prioritized industrial development. As a result, exports grew quickly and heavy industry became a major source of income. However, protecting the environment was not on the priority list during the period of rapid industrialization, and now, Korea has to deal the environmental damage. The air of Seoul is extremely polluted, making the day skies gray, and making night skies too murky to see the stars. All the carbon dioxide and other substances released from vehicles and factories have caused the damage. Not only that, but Korea also has to deal with yellow dust every year. Yellow dust is fine sand blown from the Gobi Desert in China and Mongolia every spring that sometimes includes toxic chemical smog emitted by Chinese factories, and can cause respiratory diseases. This year, it was believed to contain some radioactive material, which was assumed to have been leaked from nuclear power plants. ====

==== Today, there are a lot of movements, efforts, and organizations created to improve the quality of air. Seoul has been promoting “Creating Clean and Green Seoul” project as one of its five primary projects. It is a project started in 2005 to reduce pollution caused by diesel cars. It has fitted diesel cars with emissions-lowering devices, and it has replaced many Seoul public buses with CNG buses. ====






 * Works Cited**

Chun Sung-woo. //The Korea Herald//. Web. 07 June 2011. <@http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20110501000397>.

"Air Pollution." //Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory//. Web. 07 June 2011. <@http://www.lbl.gov/Education/ELSI/pollution-main.html>.

"Air Pollution Causes." //Health And Energy Company//. Web. 07 June 2011. <@http://healthandenergy.com/air_pollution_causes.htm>.

//Acid Rain - Air Quality, Air Pollution and Climate Change//. Web. 07 June 2011. <@http://www.acidrain.org/>.

"Acid Rain | US EPA." //US Environmental Protection Agency//. Web. 07 June 2011. <@http://www.epa.gov/acidrain/>.

"Minamata Disease." //Rare Diseases - Information About Rare Diseases//. Web. 12 June 2011. .

"China Environment Minister: Yep, It’s Bad - Ecocentric - TIME.com." //Ecocentric - A Blog about All Things Green, from Conservation to Capitol Hill - TIME.com//. Web. 12 June 2011. .

"The Environmental Problems and Movements in South Korea." //Scribd//. Web. 12 June 2011. .


 * SELF EVALUATION**

How successful do you think you conveyed your research to your audience?

I think the way I presented my research to the audience was pretty effective because I put all my research on one page. The readers don’t have to click a bunch of links to get to a page; they can just read everything in one place. I kind of thought about Wikipedia when I was doing this, so I separated my writing into sections, with headings and subheadings with different colors, so it’s easier for readers to find what they want. However, I think my in-text citations are incorrect. I put one for TIME, but I didn't include any for other websites in my writing.

What would have made your presentation more successful?

I think my presentation would have been more successful if I had made it more visually pleasing, and done the in-text citations correctly. However, since my topic is about environmental issues of East Asia, making the page pretty wouldn’t really have made a difference. Also, because we’re using Wikispaces, the things we can do are pretty limited. The way I presented my research is the best way possible.

How successful do you think your technology-based materials were in conveying your research?

I think I conveyed my research well because this wasn’t a topic I could make a successful video on. If I had made a video, I would’ve have ended up just finding a bunch of pictures of polluted cities, and inserting into the video with background music and a few keywords. That wouldn’t have gotten the information across. Writing about it and posting it on the wiki with Wikipedia format helped me show my analysis and comparison of the three countries.

What would have made your technology-based materials more successful?

I think it would’ve been more effective, if I had thought of more creative ways of conveying my research. For example, if I had found some effective way of showing my research through using things like ComicLife or Keynote, it would’ve been more successful. However, for the time being, I couldn’t think of a very creative way of doing my project, and I thought it was the best to just put everything on one page, so that the readers don’t have to flip back and forth between slides, or pages.

What did you learn from this project? Submit any other comments after this question.

I learned about various environmental problems and the current environment state in the three countries. I also learned one important commonality between three countries: rapid industrialization has made them forget about the importance of environment during the process. I thought it was kind of sad how everyone was saying no matter what steps we take now, it won’t bring back the environment to its original state, but we’re just making environmental reforms so that it stops getting further damaged.