In recent years it's come to light that, despite China's best efforts to the contrary, they have a massive pollution problem. As China finds themselves trying to quickly and cheaply produce goods that meet the consumer demands of the majority of the world, they've also found themselves polluting the atmosphere on an unprecedented scale.
近年来，政府花大力气治理污染，结果却不如人意，污染问题反而日益严峻。一些人想靠快速、低成本产出的货物抢占世界主要消费市场，但同时也发现，生产过程所造成的大气污染问题范围之大前所未有。
While the world is crying out for China to lower their emissions, many aren't prepared for the lifestyle changes that would be required if the world's major manufacturing hub decided to greatly lower its output. In the meantime, the Chinese people suffer the consequences, and as the pollution starts to spread around the globe we may all eventually feel the effects.
世界其他国家敦促中国降低污染排放量，但若中国这一世界制造中心决定大幅降低外贸输出，那许多国家的生活方式也会随之改变，但他们尚未做好改变原有生活方式的准备。同时，是中国人民在为污染买单，独自承受着环境污染带来的恶果。由于污染问题开始在全球蔓延，世界各国也将尝到环境污染所带来的恶果。
10.Poor Air Quality Is Creating A Tremendous Death Toll
10.空气污染严重，死亡人数惊人
The air pollution problem often keeps many people indoors, and forces them to wear masks to keep out toxic fumes even on days where total avoidance of the outside isn't advised. This problem is giving China a black eye on the national stage. Even after the Beijing Olympics, when the problem became more obvious, the true extent of pollution was swept under the rug. China has never offered journalists free reign to poke around, and has long denied any major problems caused by the air pollution.
很多人因为空气污染问题，宁愿呆在家中，即使天气预报没有强调“不宜出行”，他们出门时也会戴上口罩，减少有害物质的吸入。环境污染问题让中国在国际社会中颜面无存。2008年北京奥运会后，环境污染问题更加严重，然而，真实污染程度却被隐瞒。
However, a joint study involving the Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning and the World Health Organization found that somewhere between 350,000 to 500,000 Chinese people are “prematurely” dying from lung cancer due to pollution. Unfortunately, there are people who try to hand wave these numbers away. China's government has tried to keep journalists from even talking about the issue, and they've done their best to keep the numbers out of international reports whenever possible. While some would suggest that all the smoking in China is the main cause, the study makes it clear that the number of people dying from lung cancer have continued to rise even as the number of smokers has declined.
一项由包括环境保护部环境规划院和世界卫生组织在内的联合调查发现，在中国某一地区，污染导致35-50万人过早地死于肺癌。还有些人指出，吸烟是导致肺癌的主要原因；但调查显示，吸烟人数已然减少，肺癌致死人数却仍在持续增长。
9.They Are Burning Petcoke As Fuel
9.把石油焦当燃料
The United States likes to feel that they're a much cleaner country than China, and that they're doing more to deal with the crisis of pollution and renewable energy. However, the situation is more complicated than it seems. The United States and other countries are happy to buy products made using Chinese industry while claiming to take the high road themselves. The United States has put its foot down on certain fuels such as petroleum coke (petcoke). This fossil fuel is a byproduct of the oil refining process and is much, much dirtier than burning actual coal. While America don't use the fuel, the US exports it to China so America can make some money off this byproduct instead of just letting the dangerous pollutant “go to waste.”
美国一向认为自身污染比中国小，在应对污染问题和再生能源危机时更加积极主动。然而，事实远非这么简单。以美国为首的一些国家，一边购买中国制造的工业产品，一边高调宣扬自己采取了积极措施应对环境污染。美国早已停止使用诸如石油焦这样的燃料。石油焦是蒸馏原油所得副产物，燃烧时对空气造成的污染比直接烧煤更严重。如此严重的污染物本该被当做废物直接扔掉，却被美国出口到中国来换取经济利益。
Every year, the amount of petcoke exported to China grows, because it's an incredibly cheap fuel and China is dealing with the industrial demands of much of the modern world. While it's cheap, it is hardly sustainable. With carbon emissions already out of control, using a fossil fuel that's dirtier than coal is going to make an environmental crisis approach even faster. Of course, the rest of the world is partly to blame for selling the stuff in the first place. Sometimes it's better to think of protecting the world from catastrophe than it is to squeeze every last possible cent of profit out of your waste.
由于中国是当今世界工业贸易品生产大国，考虑到石油焦做燃料价格低廉，所以中国进口石油焦量逐年增长。石油焦价格低廉，但不属于可持续能源。碳排放已经无法遏制，用比煤炭污染更严重的石油焦做燃料，只会令环境污染更加恶化。当然，在石油焦买卖交易中，美国作为石油焦销售国应当遭到国际社会的谴责。保护地球避免灾难发生，倾尽所有去弥补挽救要比灾难发生后，再用以牺牲环境为代价换来的经济利益去弥补挽救的愚蠢做法要明智得多。
8.藻类大爆发
While algae blooms aren't necessarily dangerous to humans, they're usually a bad sign for the local ecosystem. Large blooms of algae have been surfacing every year in the Yellow Sea near the Qingdao Province, and the problem seems to be worsening. These huge piles of algae sitting on top of the water create an enormous mess, and in 2013 the local government was tasked with trying to clean up a bloom that was larger than 11,000 square miles.
尽管藻类泛滥不会对人类生活造成多么严重的负面影响，但这种现象常常意味着该片区域的生态环境已经开始恶化。著名海滨城市青岛东临黄海，附近海域连年水藻泛滥，海里其它生物的生存环境每况愈下。不仅如此，海藻生长聚集在海面上，使得近海多半海域看起来都是密密麻麻的绿色，景象吓人。2013年，青岛市政府打算投入大量人力物力将海藻清理干净，总面积超过1.1万平方英里。
These algae blooms greatly affect the local marine life, which often simply can't survive the conditions they're forced to deal with. The algae tends to block the sun's rays, and can also greatly change the chemical balance of the water. To make matters worse, the algae can start to cause problems to humans when it decomposes and sends toxic fumes into the atmosphere. When the Olympics were hosted in China, the government had to spend millions and enlist the aid of 10,000 people to clean the algae up enough to allow the games to continue. The damage from that year alone was estimated to cost local seafood farmers roughly 100 million dollars. Part of the problem may be seaweed farmers, who are scraping waste into the water that later turns into algae blooms when the conditions are right. Of course, many experts feel that if industrial pollution wasn't so bad those conditions wouldn't be there.
海藻附着在海面阻挡紫外线照射会极大改变海水中的化学平衡。更糟的是，藻类还会分解释放有害气体，影响人体健康。海藻泛滥的原因主要有两个，一是工业污染，再一个就是附近渔民养殖海藻，还把生活垃圾丢入海里，天气转暖时很可能造成海藻泛滥。2008年中国举办奥运会时，政府曾花费上百万人民币招募一万名志愿者清理海藻，以保证赛事能正常进行。据估计，这项海藻清理工程给当地渔业造成近一亿美元的损失。当然，很多专家认为如果工业污染不那么严重的话，海藻爆发的条件自然也不会出现。
7.They're Approaching A Water Crisis
7.日益严峻的淡水危机
When you think of a country with a serious water crisis, China isn't what comes to mind. But China is approaching a crisis, even though they would appear to have plenty of water to go around. To begin with, many industrial plants are located near water sources and dump their waste directly into the water, with very little recycling or treatment. Oftentimes sewage isn't treated properly or at all, and ends up in the same sources of water intended for industry, drinking and bathing. If that wasn't enough, since the 1960s, 10,000 bodies have been found in water sources.
每每提及用水危机、干旱、水资源短缺一类的问题，我们的第一反应总是非洲火燎的沙漠，中东炙热的日光，但绝不会认为中国也是个用水紧张的国家。尽管淡水总量不少，但人口基数庞大，人均可用水量非常紧张，所以中国水资源短缺是个严峻问题。改革开放发展经济初期，许多工厂厂房都建在河流岸边，毫不顾忌地将未经循环处理的工业废水直接排放到河流中。通常情况下污水也不经过处理，原本干净的水源遭到污染，然后再用于工业生产和日常生活。还有调查数据显示，自上世纪六十年代，环境治理部门已经在水源污染严重的地区清理出将近一万条死鱼。
Apart from pollution, China is also destroying some of their water sources. Due to industry using water without sustainable practices, many of China's rivers are drying up. Many different ruined rivers and lakes will affect other water sources and make the crisis worse. On top of all that, China has an infrastructure problem when it comes to getting water where it needs to be. Most of China's people and the agriculture that keeps them fed are located in the north, but the large majority of the country's natural water is still located in the south. And even if you can get water, you may not want to drink it. Some experts believe that half the drinking water in major cities is unsafe to consume, and groundwater supplies are in a similar state of pollution.
水源遭到污染除了工业排放所致，也受其他一些因素影响。首先工业用水量巨大加之利益驱使，极少有工厂在生产过程中考虑循环利用。这种工业生产模式导致越来越多的河流水量减少甚至濒临枯竭。同时由于河流运动，已经受到污染的淡水又流向干净水域，导致污染面积成倍扩张，可利用的淡水越来越少。地下水也同样存在类似的污染现象。一些专家认为许多大中型城市的淡水实际上有一半不宜饮用。此外水资源分布不均也是重要问题，中国大部分人口以及赖以生存的农业区域主要位于北方，但绝大多数淡水位于南方，好在当前南水北调工程已经完工，情况得到缓解。
6.They're Starting To Experience Conditions Similar To A Nuclear Winter
6.即将遭遇核冬天般的极寒天气
A nuclear winter is a theoretical scenario that would occur in the aftermath of multiple nuclear bomb detonations. Apart from the dangers of the radiation itself, the ash that accumulates in the air would block the sun's rays for a period that may last years. This would cause the planet to cool, and would greatly impede photosynthesis. It would be almost impossible to grow crops.
核冬天理论认为，核弹爆炸后，除却核辐射威胁环境和人体健康外，爆炸产生的大量烟尘也会对生产生活造成难以想象的影响。由于烟尘体积微小，被推入大气后能在高空停留数天乃至一年以上，又因为它们的平均直径小于红外波长，对从太阳来的可见光辐射有较强的吸收能力，会阻挡光热到达地面，导致地表温度下降，很大程度上阻碍植物进行光合作用，使得农作物几乎不再生长。
Aside from the radiation, this may soon be a reality in parts of China. As the country's smog problem worsens, and the government becomes less able to sweep it under the rug, more Chinese scientists are delving into the miasma, and it's not good news. One scientist concluded that the smog in some areas is already bad enough that it could be severely impeding photosynthesis. She believes that if the problem isn't dealt with soon, it could spread to much of the country and put agriculture across China at serious risk.
除了核辐射，在全国范围内雾霾问题日益严重，环境治理部门监管力度太弱，他们显然有着不可推卸的责任。此外，中国科学界的学术氛围日益颓靡，种种情形都不容乐观。有科学家研究发现，在一些重雾霾地区，农作物的光合作用同样受到抑制，生长缓慢。
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