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Technological changes have evolved over long periods of time and have always had

significant consequences for humans and the environment. By technology, we refer to


the means by which people consciously modify the material nature of their world;
technology mediates the interactions between people and their environment. It is a
resource like any other, except that unlike natural resources that exist whether humans
recognize them or not, technology is intentionally created by humans to structure the life-
chances of people in society, to manipulate social and political power, and to alter the
environment according to their wishes.

Over time, technological changes have lead to mechanization, industrialization, and many
associated social changes. . Lewis Mumford (1934) divided modern history into a series
of three technological complexes, representing the rise of civilizations and economies
based on mechanical technologies. The first phase was characterized by the use of
technical skills to harness water and wind power and by the use of wooden implements.
The second phase coincided with what we now call the Industrial Revolution and relied
heavily on coal and iron resources. The third and current phase is characterized by an
increasing reliance on electricity had at least two major objectives. First, each innovation
has been designed to solve a particular problem, e.g., irrigating a piece of land where
water is scarce or immunizing people to prevent disease. Second, the whole package of
innovations known as the Industrial Revolution was intended to raise people’s living
standards and to enhance national power.

The Industrial Revolution certainly brought about unprecedented changes in many


people’s material and physical well-being The Industrial Revolution certainly brought
about unprecedented changes in many people’s material and physical well-being. For
example, technological changes helped increase agricultural yields, extend life
expectancies, and improve transportation and communication. But these changes were
not without costs; changes in agricultural technology also created water pollution, and
changes in modes of transportation have resulted in increased CO2 emissions into the
earth’s atmosphere. In addition, many of the changes in health and well-being have not
been shared evenly within and across nations. Whereas the current life expectancy at
birth in the US is 76 years, in Nigeria, for example, it is just over 50 years (WRI 1996).

Before the Industrial Revolution, the negative effects to the environment resulting
from the productive and consumptive activities of subsistence-oriented people did not
significantly alter the global environment. The impacts of technology were confined to
small geographic scales. The advent of the industrial age -- driven largely by population
growth and the need and desire for economic expansion, lifestyle improvements, and
military domination -- led to the mass consumption of materials like iron, steel, and
petroleum. Products became cheaper and more readily available allowing people to
consume and discard them at relatively little immediate cost (the “throw away” society).
In growing urban areas, more waste was produced than could be treated and more smoke
emitted than could be dispersed by the wind.

Throughout history, human productive activity has occurred in what can be called an
open system. People have taken natural materials, transformed them into products for
use, and discarded worn-out products and left-over materials. This practice often forced
early societies to change locations as the build-up of wastes and the depletion of locally
available resources rendered existing settlements uninhabitable or production processes
unprofitable. This was fairly reasonable behavior as long as uncontaminated places were
easy to find. Today, however, the situation is entirely different. It is no longer possible to
avoid the wastes that we create; their disposal is a burden and, as we’ve seen, can
contribute to global changes.

The current global situation suggests that our open industrial system cannot be
sustained indefinitely. We consume too many natural resources to produce the things we
want or need while generating too many by-products (toxic substances, emissions, solid
waste etc.) that harm us and the environment. These changes threaten to upset the global
environmental conditions we have adapted to and come to depend on, and they have the
potential to threaten the survival of many species on earth (including humans). For these
reasons, we need to reconceptualize and redesign the ways that industrial systems operate
to place more control over the flow of materials. It is here that industrial ecology can
contribute.

Bad air, polluted water, depleted resources and global warming. These are some
of the emerging hallmarks of Asia’s booming growth in recent years

Ever since the late 1970s, China’s economy has undergone a remarkable transformation
due to it economic reforms and the open economic system. This has led towards China
being one of the most successful and fastest growing economies in the world. China has
in fact succeeded in achieving an annual growth rate of over 9.4%, with the average
annual growth rate of its exports also exceeding 13%, ever since the year
1978(reference). Despite the Asian financial crisis that rocked the East Asian Economies,
China continued to maintain its growth momentum. The industrialization process that
started in China also contributed to a fair amount of its success as a nation using cheap
labor, raw materials and technology and yet taking over a fair share of the world
economy. However, arguably enough, one of the main problems that occurred with the
relentless economic development and growth was environmental damage or degradation
as a result of the continuous resource usage.
Post independence China, in the year 1949, went through the entire process of
industrialization. After more than three decades of industrialization, China has emerged
as the sixth largest economy in the world. Not only is China the world’s most low cost
manufacturer for labour-intensive items like footwear, toys, apparel and sporting goods,
but also for high tech electronic items. However, before any further economic
acceleration, China must recognize the emerging need to counter the limitation of its
resources, if it is to achieve sustainable economic development in the long run.
(defininetion) Not only is China one of the most polluted cities in the world
now(statistics) but according to a national geographic paper, China is claimed to have the
most poisonous air in the world; one of the most important reasons being the rapid
industrialization mechanism that the country is following.
In general, modernization and industrialization has led China to achieve rapid economic
growth, but this growth has mostly been inefficient, relying mainly on magnanimous
amounts of natural resources and cheap human labour. This strategy although seems very
attractive for achievement of economic growth; however it ignores a sustainable future
for China.
According to ecologists, China’s drinking water resources are less than 25% of the world
average while the grassland resources have fallen to less than 50%.(reference of a
sustainable Chinese economy?) however, the interesting fact to notice is that pollution
has grown along with GDP. According to the World Bank Report “China 2020- Clean
Water Blue Skies” 1997 it was estimated that the air and water pollution is costing China
nearly 3.5% to 8% of its GDP while the People’s Daily claims that environmental
pollution causes annual losses of US $34.3 billion(reference). These statistics have
contributed greatly towards establishing an overall consensus on the importance of
environmental cost estimation, and how environmental degradation has severe
implications for the economy of China.
Impacts of Industrialzation The environmental problems which China faces reflect the
country’s characteristics. Since China straddles humid and arid zones, agricultural and pastoral
regions, inland and external draining river basins, forested lands and grasslands and has the
greatest elevation variation of any country in the world, it is particularly susceptible to a great
variety of forms of ecosystem degradation. Fragile environments are said to occupy almost 10
per cent of the total area. The country’s long historical record shows that the existence of
ecological problems and awareness of environmental issues is not new. Although one of the
oldest and poorest agricultural societies, China is making a transition into an open, developed
economy. However, as it also is approaching a population level which may be becoming non-
sustainable, China is facing a double threat. On the one hand there are the problems we
expect to find in an underdeveloped and overpopulated agricultural society such as soil
erosion, deforestation and desertification. On the other hand, the rapidly developing industrial
sector means that China is facing widespread pollution problems often of a sophisticated
nature.

Air pollution in Beijing


Water Pollution in Tahai Lake\

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