5.Improperly Designed Garbage Incinerators Are Polluting The Atmosphere
5.垃圾焚烧炉的不合理设计污染大气
China is struggling to contain the insane amounts of waste the country produces. Landfills are quickly overfilling, leaving them with nothing to do but simply destroy the garbage if they can. In many situations, this has led to a strategy of garbage incineration, with the fumes vented straight into the atmosphere. While this probably doesn't sound like a great idea even in the best of situations, there are some incinerator plants in China that are having a serious environmental impact. Regulations aren't well designed and there are a plethora of incinerator facilities that aren't even close to standard, belching nasty smoke into the air with mercury and every other poison you could imagine. The horrible toxic fumes that spew forth have caused protests by everyone near them, and they're an obvious threat to everyone's health for miles.
中国正在努力解决垃圾处理问题，大量垃圾给生存环境造成的压力不容小觑。由于垃圾掩埋场很快被填满，对垃圾进行焚烧成为无奈之举。很多情况下，垃圾焚烧产生的烟雾会被直接排放到大气中。不仅如此，垃圾焚烧机也会对环境造成严重负担。由于法律漏洞和监管不力，很多垃圾焚烧机都达不到环保标准，焚烧产生的烟雾异常难闻，当中还混杂不少像汞这样的化学物质，影响附近居民的身体健康。
4.It's Become The Largest Dumping Ground For E-Waste
4.中国正在成为最大电子垃圾倾倒场
E-waste is an increasingly vexing problem for the world. When old electronics are tossed out they often aren't properly recycled because it's too time consuming, unsafe or expensive. In many cases, a venue that recycles old cell phones and computers may just take all that junk and send it to another country to pick over as they please. This is technically illegal, but there's little deterrent. Using both the guise of donations and straight up smuggling, China has becoming the leading importer of e-waste to the point that 70% of the world's e-waste is ending up there.
对全世界来说，电子垃圾正在成为一个愈发棘手的问题。回收废旧电器要付出相当大的物力和财力，而且存在安全问题，因此这些电子垃圾常常和普通垃圾一样废弃一边，得不到妥善处理。在许多情况下，一个回收旧手机和电脑的场所，很有可能仅仅是另一个愿意接收这些垃圾的国家。尽管严格说起来这种行为触犯法律，但显然并不具有震慑力。其他国家利用捐款和直接走私的幌子，导致中国已经成为电子垃圾的主要进口国，世界上百分之七十的电子垃圾都在这里。
One town called Guiyu has become a hot zone for the stuff, and many entrepreneurs have risen up around mining old electronic garbage for valuable metals and other useful scrap. Unfortunately, this is terrible for their health and the environment. The process often involves burning plastic or using hydrochloric acid, neither of which is good for the user or the atmosphere. To make matters worse, this pollution has also affected the town's water supply and rice crops. While the local government is trying to stop the flood of e-waste into the town, they face resistance from some residents because it's the only way they know how to make a living.
贵屿镇已经成为这类垃圾倾倒的热门场所，许多企业家在这周围兴建工厂提炼有价值的金属和其他一些有用的材料。不幸的是，这对健康和环境都很不利。提炼的过程通常都包括燃烧塑料，使用盐酸，没有一种是对使用者或大气是有益的。更糟糕的是，这种污染也影响了当地的供水和粮食作物。虽然当地政府正在阻止电子垃圾涌入城镇，但是他们遇到了一些阻碍，因为当地居民认为这是他们所知的维持生计的唯一途径。
3.Pollutants Are Making The Food Supply Unsafe
3.污染物让粮食供应变得不安全
It stands to reason that if China's air and water isn't doing well, their soil probably isn't faring much better. The problem with the soil may actually be more serious than any others. While many farmers are worried about the constant pollution levels they're exposed to, most of the country is worried about the safety of their food supply — a supply they're increasingly unable to trust.
如果中国的空气和水质都不好的话，那么显然他们的土壤也不会好到哪里去。实际上，土壤的问题可能比其他任何问题都要严重。虽然许多农民都担心他们一直在接触污染物，但大多数国家更在意他们粮食供应的安全性——他们越来越担心粮食的安全问题。
The soil problem has been one of the most carefully guarded secrets in China. In fact, a few years ago the Chinese government conducted a study of the soil in order to assess environmental concerns. The results have never been released, which led to speculation that they're worse than anyone could have imagined. To give you some idea, a group of Chinese officials found levels of cadmium beyond what's recommended as safe in 155 samples of rice. One official commented that eight million acres of Chinese farmland was so poisoned with heavy metal contamination that it should no longer be used to grow crops. The worst part is that it's almost impossible for Chinese consumers to know whether or not their food is contaminated.
土壤问题已经成为中国最不愿被人提及的秘密了。事实上，为了检测环境问题，几年前中国政府曾经做过一个有关土壤问题的研究。研究结果从未公开过，这引起了外界的各种猜测，他们怀疑问题可能比任何人设想的都要严重。但有项调查可以得见，在被认定为安全的155份大米样本中，镉的含量全部超标。其中一位政府工作人员披露，中国已经有八百万英亩的土地被重金属严重污染，这些受污染土壤不应该再用来种植粮食。更糟糕的是，食品安全问题一直是主流媒体鲜少报道的话题，国人维权意识淡泊，对许多问题食品的内幕往往毫不知情或了解甚少。
2.癌症村
Since the late 1990s, international activists and groups in China have been working on the problem of cancer villages. A cancer village is a small town of 100 or so residents that's extremely close to industrial plants. These plants are constantly producing some of the nastiest pollutants on earth. People from the villages describe it as a nightmare, with chemically tainted water that can't be purified and clouds of toxic ash floating through the air.
从上世纪九十年代后期起，国际环保人事和环保组织就一直致力于解决中国癌症村的问题。一个癌症发病率较高的村庄往往紧邻化工企业，村里居住人家仅百户左右。这些化工企业长期排放对环境危害严重的污染物，造成当地水源污染，无法净化使用，空气中弥漫着有毒灰尘，严重危害当地人的身体健康，可以说是无法承受的噩梦。
The Chinese government doesn't want to address or acknowledge the issue, but like the smog the problem has become bad enough that no amount of covering up can hide it. Unfortunately, these villages are unlikely to go away anytime soon. As it turns out, the richer citizens of China don't like pollution when it affects them, so they've been pressuring the government to move industrial plants. The government obliges and moves them near poor villages that lacks the political influence to do anything about it.
随着癌症村数目的不断上升，这个问题同雾霾一样已经到了难以整治的地步，成为中国政府不愿提及的痛。造成这一困境的原因之一是短期内不太可能将癌症村的居民重新安置妥当。事实证明，许多经济发达地区愈发重视环境问题，不断向政府施压要求迁移重污染企业。于是这些企业开始迁往内陆经济欠发达、政治影响力相对较弱的贫困地区。
1.It Affects The Entire World
1.国内污染影响整个世界
While it's important for China to help its own country, the problem affects more than just China. The massive amount of pollution is starting to affect the rest of the world, and the results aren't pretty. Scientists at Texas A&M University ran climate simulations both with and without China's current air pollution and found troubling results. According to their simulations, cyclones in the Pacific Ocean are being strengthened by the pollution levels, and there's an increase in ocean storms in general. If that wasn't bad enough, tracing the pollutants led to the conclusion that some of it's reaching the western United States, and much of the pollution levels in those states could be blamed on China.
环境污染问题不仅对国民生活危害巨大亟需治理，其他国家也会受到负面影响，后果严重，令人堪忧。德州农工大学(Texas A&M University)的科学家们分别在受中国大气污染影响和不受影响的条件下进行了气象模拟。模拟显示，随着污染程度加深，太平洋的飓风日益增强，且海洋风暴的发生次数也在不断上升。如果你认为这些影响还不算严重，那么通过追踪污染物会发现一些污染物漂洋过海甚至到达美国西部地区，这些污染源基本都来自中国。
As the study points out, this is massively ironic because the United States — and other developed countries — rely on China for cheap consumer goods. While many countries have outlawed practices that are bad for the environment, they turn around and buy massive amounts of goods from countries that continue to poison the environment. Countries like China fill a void by allowing us to get things for cheap while feeling like we're taking the high road by enacting tougher pollution laws at home. These countries' economies quickly become based on manufacturing, and the cycle becomes hard to break. While China may need to change, it's a problem of more than just their making. If we want China to stop polluting, the rest of the world needs to find a more environmentally sustainable way to produce the goods that drive our economies.
调查证实，这是极大的讽刺，美国和其它发达国家从中国进口大量廉价消费品，同时又禁止污染环境的产业在本国生存，导致发展中国家的环境污染问题严重。这些国家很快转变为以小商品制造业为支柱产业，牺牲环境为代价的经济发展模式。这种模式一旦形成，环境污染问题就会进入恶性循环，很难被打破。中国需要作出转变，污染并不只是制造业带来的问题。如果我们希望中国摆脱环境污染，就必须找到一种环保的替代生产方式，转变产业结构，建立新的发展模式。
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