Latest comments posted about One Chinese villager's view of climate change on ChinaDialogue en-gb http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/1976-One-Chinese-villager-s-view-of-climate-change http://staging.chinadialogue.net/images/cdlogo.gif http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/1976-One-Chinese-villager-s-view-of-climate-change Whether people are able to distinguish the differences between pollution and climate changes, as well as between sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide,or the teaching of science is sufficient or nor,the fact is this, China’s ecology system is already falling apart (The 2008 Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Humanities Forum, a news report from the Guangming Daily). The people who are close to nature feel the anomalies of the environment and climate change, many natural and man–made disasters threaten the lives and livelihoods of many people. We must then request people who understand science to be a little less fastidious. We must try to be a little bit more pragmatic and think more deeply. (This comment was translated by Laura Bewley) Sun, 25 Oct 2009 12:58:28 +0000 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1976#comment-9454 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1976#comment-9454 According to the report in 2006 by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, cattle breeding is the foremost contributor to climate change. The following data gleaned from the web shows clearly what impact cattle breeding and meat production exerts on global energy supply, climate and environment in general. “Cattle breeding and meat production contributes to global warming. For the production of each kilogram of cattle meat, 36.4 kilogram carbon dioxide is to be released into the atmosphere, which equals to the emission of driving three hours. The energy needed for each kilogram of meat in cattle raising, processing and transportation can keep a 100w light bulb burning for three weeks on end. Cattle breeding accounts for two thirds of ammonia release, which is the major cause of acid rain. A whopping 18% of greenhouse gas emission comes from cattle husbandry, exceeding that of automobiles, ships, aircrafts and railway locomotives combined. Furthermore, 65% of global nitrogen monoxide emission is released from cattle breeding, the greenhouse effect of which is 296 times that of carbon dioxide. And husbandry accounts for 37% of global methane emission, which is 72 times as powerful as carbon dioxide in terms of greenhouse effect. In result, consumption of a steak has as much greenhouse effect as driving a car for two miles. If humanity as a whole switched to vegetarian diet, it can save up to 80% of greenhouse effect. (translated by Yang Bin) Sun, 14 Jun 2009 11:09:47 +0000 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1976#comment-8977 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1976#comment-8977 Warming in China is actually caused by a series of environmental pollutions including carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particles, smog and haze. Warming in the rest of the world, according to some research, is attributed to carbon dioxide alone. Greenhouse effect is obvious in China because of prosperous manufacturing industry, high level of unbanization and lack of clean technologies. Based on these observations, a lot of Chinese believe they have understood the mechanism of global warming. This is a big misunderstanding resulted from inadequate science popularization in China. Recently the chief-meteorologist of Guangdong province even argued on the South Weekend that desulfurization technologies increased the emission of carbon dioxide and thus contributed to the deterioration of acid rain. How ridiculous! Besides, some commentators on this website mistake manure for environmental pollution. Manure is environmentally degradable. It is a problem of sanitation rather than industrial pollution. Chinese government, the State Council, has proposed to reduce the emission of sulfur dioxide rather than carbon dioxide. This is in line with Chinese people's understanding of global warming, which is different from westerners. Consequently, foreign experts are suspicious of China's statistics. From my perspective, all of these can be attributed to one cause--inadequate science popularization in China. ----Ban Men Nong Fu Mon, 12 May 2008 20:22:52 +0000 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1976#comment-7362 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1976#comment-7362 I can see why the Chinese farmers are more aware of climate change, especially those who has see the "good old times". First, it is the Chinese calendar. IT is very "climate" oriented. All 24 seasons are about climate. And they are fine enough (15 days each, more or less), and with names reminding people of what to expect. When what is expected from the old calendar did match what is actually happening, the "climate change" flag goes up. Furthermore, Chinese has traditional believe that how well the government does has impact on climate, like when the "Mandate of Heaven" is withdrawn. Farmers rely on climate for their harvest. They rely on their reading on climate to tell how well they can live, much more than any urban dwellers. On top of that, most people over 50 years old would have experience major change of the environment during 1950's and 60's, all due to human interference with the environment. So, I am not surprised that Chinese in rural communities are more aware of change in climate, especially local climate. Thu, 08 May 2008 12:05:37 +0000 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1976#comment-7352 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1976#comment-7352 Although resources have been exhausted in China, we still witness waste of resources everywhere in our daily life. In many big cities, such as Beijing, a city with severe shortage of water, as well as Shanghai, which has relatively abundant water resources, waste of tap water is astonishingly widespread. Tap water does not cost much, perhaps this is why people do not care about it at all. As some articles have pointed out, if all Chinese paid attention to water conservation, maybe we would not need the South-to-North Water Division Project! Wed, 07 May 2008 21:46:57 +0000 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1976#comment-7350 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1976#comment-7350 Global warming, climate change not only the terminology used to mention by scientists, but also the real life experience from ordinary people. The severity of environmental pollution probably is the main reason which has raised the concern among the Chinese in regard the climate change. The consciousness of environmental protection has improved, however we an ordinary people, what can we do so far? Besides what has been done by this 76 year-old Chinese lady as to urge factories to reduce carbon emission, shall we start to do something which will reflects energy-saving and carbon emission reduction from our daily living? In my opinion, since the Chinese already equip with good knowledge in carbon emission-reduction, hence, it is the right timing to explore and popularize energy-saving and carbon emission reduction among individual and society! Wed, 07 May 2008 12:10:10 +0000 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1976#comment-7348 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1976#comment-7348