China's going nuts

[HenOnAJuneBug]

It seems so easy to point fingers at other countries when we may not realize just how bad things really are in our own.

That's an extreme exception, which I bet is due to burning rice stalks in the fields. The vast, vast majority of the US is pretty pristine for an industrialized society. Not the best maybe, but pretty darn good.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

All the round up used on food crops really worries me.

Me too. Not so much when it's sprayed on weeds while the crops are young, like corn, but when they spray it on mature grains to dry them out quickly for harvest; something it was never intended for.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

Something I'm noticing so far is that deaths in other countries are elderly people, like 80-year-old Chinese tourists, or older people with prior health issues, like a 61-year-old Japanese taxi driver who had diabetes and Hepatitis B.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

That's an extreme exception, which I bet is due to burning rice stalks in the fields. The vast, vast majority of the US is pretty pristine for an industrialized society. Not the best maybe, but pretty darn good.

Rice is more northern California, delta area and burning is heavily prohibited or managed by our air quality control districts... Central and south was nuts, pit fruits like peach and plum, citrus, corn, dairy cows, grapes, cotton.. you name it, as far as the eye can see. You've heard of the dust bowl era... it's STILL like that. dirt storms are crazy! People's wells are running dry.. while farmers are still pumping water to feed America and the world.

Nope, the bad air... from general tilling of the soil, running all the farm equipment to harvest, and ALL the livestock... ewe, the turkey, chicken, and Harris Ranch Beef. And also from being a valley... where everything gets caught up against the mountain instead of blowing past like it might in the dessert or coast. Winter time most fireplace use is banned. And who can forget the fire storms taking place!

California.. what, maybe the 3rd largest state in the union?? Doesn't seem like an extreme exception to me... I now live near one of the LAST undamned rivers on the west coast! Salmon runs aren't even a percentage of what they were... before logging, damning, and pumping our rivers to their limits. It's all around us if we open our eyes and look.

When I see China.. I see the US... not far behind.

I live in pretty secluded and "sheltered" area... practicing intentional ignorance to the horror story unfolding. But that's not the same as turning a blind eye and I'm not in denial just because I'm fortunate enough to have a choice (still).

Something I'm noticing so far is that deaths in other countries are elderly people, like 80-year-old Chinese tourists, or older people with prior health issues, like a 61-year-old Japanese taxi driver who had diabetes and Hepatitis B.

Kinda... like nature... predators take out the weak, leaving the core herd stronger. Guess I see it as the circle of life. Still feel very bad for those suffering loss though and hope they get comforted, supported, and encouraged! Wish I could help them.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

When I see China.. I see the US... not far behind

No, not going to happen. China is where the US used to be, and is slowly cleaning up its act.

 

[ThreeOfSeven]

That's an extreme exception, which I bet is due to burning rice stalks in the fields. The vast, vast majority of the US is pretty pristine for an industrialized society. Not the best maybe, but pretty darn good.

Actually, the pollution is because they burn coal. It's especially a problem during the winter months. My pictures were taken in February, and the pictures taken in Wuhan might have been February too. We took a train from Xi'an to Beijing to catch some of the countryside. Couldn't see anything.

 

[ThreeOfSeven]

No, not going to happen. China is where the US used to be, and is slowly cleaning up its act.

And, sadly, the US is going to slide back to where China is today.

 

[ThreeOfSeven]

All the round up used on food crops really worries me.

Boggles my mind, they KNOW how bad that stuff can be and yet they still continue to use it.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

Actually, the pollution is because they burn coal. It's especially a problem during the winter months. My pictures were taken in February, and the pictures taken in Wuhan might have been February too. We took a train from Xi'an to Beijing to catch some of the countryside. Couldn't see anything.

Yep, not just in power pants, but in everyone's coal stoves for cooking and heat. I burned coal for heat a long time ago, but I doubt anyone still does that in the US.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

And, sadly, the US is going to slide back to where China is today.

Don't see how. There are laws preventing that kind of gross pollution. Coal plants are shutting down (even though they burn pretty clean now), and clean natural gas is replacing it, so the air is much cleaner overall now.