Good luck with that

by Andy Jackson on April 25, 2007

A Korean scholar has asked China to do something about the toxic yellow dust coming from its ever-growing desert. The dust itself would not be so bad if the Chinese were not in the habit of mixing it will all kinds of harmful goodies.

{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }

1 SomeguyinKorea April 25, 2007 at 12:34 pm: “Justice, a South Korean journal”

Sorry if I’m being cynical, but who reads this journal? What are his thoughts on the Korean government’s lack of an appropriate enforcement of its own anti-pollution laws (anyone who’s been anywhere near an industrial park on a Saturday and Sunday evening (when inspectors are thought to be in bed) will understand what I mean)? Oh, right, I forgot: pollution in Korea is an external problem.
2 R. Elgin April 25, 2007 at 12:35 pm: Consider Andy that Chinese factories are presently dropping much mercury — a toxic metal — all over Korea and Japan. News of this alone has prompted me to finally consider moving away from Korea within the next few years. This is a serious health issue that needs a solution sooner than later.
3 Wedge April 25, 2007 at 1:53 pm: Love that oxymoron “harmful goodies!”
4 michael April 25, 2007 at 2:25 pm: Here’s some more bad news:
“China is the world’s biggest coal producer, burning over 2 billion tonnes of coal per year. Sulphur dioxide and soot caused by coal combustion result in acid rain,

which now falls on approximately 30 per cent of China’s total land area. Oil consumption in China has doubled in the past 20 years. Sixteen of the world’s most air-polluted cities are in China.”
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/climate_change/article2483839.ece

“If China’s development trajectory continues as planned, its increase in greenhouse gas emissions will likely exceed that of all industrialized countries combined over the next twenty-five years, surpassing by five times the reduction in such emissions that the Kyoto Protocol sought.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/20/opinion/main2710678.shtml

R.Elgin, you will have to move to another planet to get away from China’s pollution…
5 globalvillageidiot April 25, 2007 at 3:04 pm: “R.Elgin, you will have to move to another planet to get away from China’s pollution…”

But it would be hard to argue that rural Ontario, just to give an example, wouldn’t be a preferable option to Seoul/Gyeonggi when it comes to pollution (of Chinese or local origin). If respiratory and skin diseases are already a major problem now, just imagine what things (ie. CANCER) might look like here in a few years…

Canada might be a little quieter, colder, and less tax friendly than Korea, but environmental reasons are one big thing motivating me to move my family back over in a couple of years too.
6 SomeguyinKorea April 25, 2007 at 4:51 pm: global,

Canada is easily one of the largest polluters in the world…but, unlike in Korea, the sources of pollution are spread out over thousands of kilometers.
7 michael April 25, 2007 at 5:20 pm: Also, consider that the way China is ramping up its pollution the whole planet will be significantly worse off and there’ll be nowhere to hide. So there!
8 seouldout April 25, 2007 at 8:12 pm: Giant sprinklers ought to keep the dust down a bit.

Or pave the Gobi.
9 Mark April 25, 2007 at 8:16 pm: China, Sprinkling.(TM)
10 SomeguyinKorea April 26, 2007 at 1:42 am: “Love that oxymoron “harmful goodies!””
Is it still an oxymoron if you’re talking about the selection of imported beer at the supermarket?