#13 SMOGPOCALYPSE

Because China developed too fast after opening up, problems have accumulated over the past 20 years and more will appear more in the coming years despite the implementation of protection measures. In the coming decade, environmental problems will affect people: issues such as poor air quality causing lung cancer and heavy-metal pollution resulting in birth deformities.

China's ongoing pollution is so nasty that there is now a word for it: "SMOGPOCALYPSE'. There is a fake Hong Kong skyline for tourists, as the real skyline is covered in smog! 

China's development seems to have proved the point that in a country under a dictatorship the economy seems to develop faster, but the problems that develop along the way seem to be greater. For example, the wealth gap has not got smaller as the economy develops: it is widening. Society has not become any more just and equal, but worse. Corruption is more severe. It's not just the ecological environment that is being polluted but the political environment. This is a corruption industry created in the process of fighting corruption.

In 2010, China ranked as the world's leading investor in low-carbon energy technology, which makes sense given national political leaders' tendency to clean energy as a great economic opportunity.

China has become one of the most polluted countries in the world. In fact, China is the most populous country on the planet, and with economic growth rate over 10% the environment is playing a heavy troll. Pollution here remains largely unchecked and as a result the country contains some of the dirtiest air in the world. Hence why people walk through the city wearing dust masks for protection against the thick clouds of smog. China is home to many polluted, unusable waterways, as well as swaths of garbage-infested land.

Even though Chinese leaders are vowing to change and look after the planet's interests, it's going to be difficult with such rapid expansion, especially considering how bad China's pollution problems remain.