Pressing issue air pollution
Probably the most prominent of China’s environmental issues is the country’s air pollution. Industry waste gas emissions put a strain on man and nature alike. In 2021, carbon dioxide emission from fossil fuel and industrial purposes in China reached nearly 11.5 billion metric tons. Carbon dioxide emissions have been constantly rising in China, the growing emission led by soaring amount of new vehicle registration and others only complicate the matter. In order to reduce emissions, the government has introduced specific reduction targets in the national five-year plans and subsequently monitored their implementation.China’s water reserves used to suffer heavily from industrial pollution, but the result of the efforts of China to improve environmental quality seemed to finally start revealing itself. As of 2023, over 80 percent of the surface water sampled across China was categorized as Grade III or above, which was almost drinkable quality.