Chinese Environment by
Anders Yates
CLIMATES
One of the most influential factors
in the determination of a region's plant and animal life is it's climate,
and so this aspect of China's many ecosystems must be understood before
one can examine the remainder of the country's environment. Eastern China's
climate is mainly temperate, producing strong monsoon rains in the summer,
whereas the climate in the north and northwestern regions of China are
comparatively dry, receiving as little as 100 mm of annual precipitation,
and can be classified as semi-arid and even desert conditions. Southeastern
China is considered subtropical while central and southwestern China are
continental and the uplands of Tibet are subarctic. One interesting aspect
of the Chinese climate system is that the winds will travel in the opposite
direction in the summer than they will in the winter. This is a result
of the fact that during winter, the air over the interior will cool and
sink, creating a high-pressure system that will only allow air to travel
to the south and east from Mongolia. In the summer, the air over the interior
becomes overheated, and the subsequent low-pressure system pulls air in
from the south. The first rains each season from such a summer wind will
usually occur in June or July.
DIVERSE PLANT
AND ANIMAL LIFE
From this climate, China has been able
to be home to a wide variety of plant and animal life, including approximately
25,000 species of flora and around 3,440 species of vertebrate fauna. Among
the animals to be found in the north and northeastern regions of China
are horses, camels, tapirs and river foxes. The warmer southern region
is home to Chinese pangolins, monkeys, apes, gibbons and tree shrews. Programs
to protect wildlife and endangered species, such as the Panda, instituted
by the government, have been in effect since the late 1960's. Despite
this, however, entire species of animals continue to die out regularly,
as is the case the world over. As for vegetation, the southeast is home
to about 80% of China's species of plant life, consisting mainly of deciduous
forests and steppe grasses, along with coniferous forests in the more mountainous
regions. The more arid northwest contains primarily grasslands and desert
vegetation. Sadly, China's forests are at risk due to a continuous stream
of deforestation. Because of China's overwhelming population, there are
an exceptionally large number of mouths to feed. This results in the need
for very large farmlands, and unfortunately, producing these agricultural
regions often means destroying forests. This is why China is suffering
from massive deforestation, along with the needs for timber and firewood.
Luckily, however, the Chinese government recently called for 65 lumber
companies to cease logging and for 70 other companies to cut their timber
production by 10 million cubic meters.
SOILS
China holds a number of soils which
support various forms of agriculture and wild plant life, but are also
suffering from constant erosion, due in part to the deforestation mentioned
above. In the lowlands of the North China plain, one might find alluvial
soils, which are some of the most productive soils for agricultural purposes.
These soils are also found in the Chang Jiang valley and delta, and most
other valleys which are prone to flooding. These alluvial soils are primarily
used for the cultivation of rice and wheat. Fertile, black soils called
chernozems are rich in plant nutrients and are found in the northern area
of the Manchurian plain and along the southern border of inner Mongolia.
These soils are better for producing grain. While these two types of soil
are the most productive, they are not the only ones to yield crops. The
subtropical areas of southern China can produce rice, tea and mulberry
trees thanks to the leteritic red and yellow soils present there. Surrounding
the chernozem zone, in drier regions, brown and chestnut-brown soils may
be found which are not as agriculturally productive and are therefore used
mainly for pasture. These soils, brown in particular, are often subject
to heavy erosion. Erosion has resulted in making the Yellow River the world's
muddiest river, due to an accumulation of sediment at it's lower reaches,
thanks to heavy erosion upstream.
FRAGILE ECOSYSTEM
China's numerous natural ecosystems
are increasingly becoming threatened by man-made disruptions such as air-pollution
and damming which harm not only the natural world, but the people of China
as well. Air pollution, for instance, caused by motor vehicles as well
as numerous factories and China's reliance on coal to produce a portion
of it's electricity, has been attributed for an estimated one million premature
deaths each year. Air pollution is also the cause for acid rain, which
is a major problem in many regions in China. The frequency of acid rain
in Guangdong Province, for instance, was last measured at 42.7 percent.
Because more than two fifths of the rainfall in that province is acidic,
the water systems also suffer, killing fish and plant life. Another man-made
environmental concern is the Three Gorges Dam, a work in progress which
will result in the world's largest dam, and consequently the world's largest
man-made flooding. In all, 418 square miles will become submerged thanks
to the dam, which has a seemingly environmentally conscious goal: to provide
clean, non-polluting electricity to the Chinese people. The dam will be
the cause of the disruption and destruction of countless ecosystems - and
agricultural areas. Other dams have been known to ruin fisheries by preventing
water from reaching the sea. Most importantly, the construction of this
dam will involve the permanent relocation of 1.2 million people whose homes
and farms will be submerged. One can only hope that the benefits of such
a dam really will outweigh the tragic impact it will have, as the Chinese
officials in charge of the project have insisted.
China's environment is clearly very
diverse, and is made up of many different elements, coming together to
form the beauty of nature. With any luck, people will realize how important
this is before it all disappears.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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