Sweatshops in China - Essay Example

Your full November 19, Sweatshops in China: An Informative-cum-Persuasive Essay Introduction Pollution, along with the resulting global warming and climate change impacts, is becoming a searing issue with every passing day. Alongside a myriad of causes that cause pollution, one of the biggest sources is the industrial production. China is one such country whose industrial production is being exported to many countries across the globe. Sweatshops or sweat factories are the backbone of these industries. These sweatshops offer poor working conditions, which not only produce a stressful environment for the workers but also offer inadequate resources for the production of goods which results in high level of pollution. The thesis statement of this paper is: Sweatshops in China are unethical because they are causing severe pollution and are destroying the environments surrounding the country. Section 1 What is a Sweatshop? A sweatshop is basically a factory in the clothing industry, in which working conditions are poor and which violates the labor laws as defined by the legislature of the country. Poor working conditions may include unfair wages, child labor, lack of incentives given to the workers, perverse working hours, issues such as sexual or gender harassment, or any other kind of high degree exploitation of workers. Sweatshops even do not provide living wage to the workers, which is required to cover the basic needs of food, clothing and shelter. Workers work more than 60 hours per week. The workplace environment of sweatshops is a great stressor for workers. Harassment, intimidation, verbal abuse, and forceful work are important aspects of sweatshops. For example, workers are made to work with dangerous chemicals bare-handed. Developing or under-developed countries have the highest rate of child labor coming out of sweatshops that tend to produce a variety of products, such as clothing, shoes, toys, car gadgets, rugs, carpets, and eatables like chocolate and coffee. Why do Chinese Sweatshops Pollute the Air? Sweatshops in China tend to pollute the air. There are a myriad of reasons behind this. Sweatshops discharge waste materials and toxic chemicals into the air and water. For instance, tons of dyes are discharged into water that causes various diseases. There are a number of sweatshops in China that are responsible for adverse environmental practices that are dangerous to health of workers working in the supplier plants. For example, Foxconn and Lian Jian Technology are some of the Chinese suppliers that work for Apple. These factories regularly violate China’s Law on the Prevention and Control of Occupational Diseases, according to which factories found indulged in harmful health practices are penalized. Sweatshops use such chemicals that facilitate the manufacturing process but are poisonous to the workers. This results in extreme metal pollution that can prove to be fatal for workers. There is often lack of ventilation in Chinese sweatshops. Diesel soot results in asthma and respiratory disorders. Workers have such tight working schedule that they do not get spare time to form labor unions to raise their voices against the exploitation that they experience in the sweatshops. Section 2 Living Conditions in China due to Pollution China is experiencing adverse environmental conditions due to pollution, especially that which is being produced by its sweatshops. Kaiman (para.1) writes: “Chinese scientists have warned that the countrys toxic air pollution is now so bad that it resembles a nuclear winter, slowing photosynthesis in plants – and potentially wreaking havoc on the countrys food supply.” Kaiman further states that there has been dense smog in Beijing and six other northern provinces of China, causing toxic particles to enter into the lungs and the bloodstream. Pollution in China has already caused tourism to suffer because of grounding flights and closed highways, Kaiman writes. Scientists are calling this condition resulting from the smog panic as the nuclear winter. Photosynthesis is being disturbed by the air pollutants that stick to the greenhouse surfaces. This is severely affecting agricultural production. Beijing is suffering from adverse pollution due to which the government has regulated emergency measures that include shutting down of schools and forbidding people to come out if pollution or smog persists for more than three days (Kaiman). Statistical Details on Pollution in China Beijing’s real-time Air Quality Index (AQI) was found to be 380 as on November 20, 2014 (Beijing Environmental Protection Monitoring Center). When AQI is more than 300, the air pollution level is hazardous. With an AQI of 380, Beijing is considered at a very dangerous level where health implications are extremely severe. Kaiman (para.2) writes: “Beijings concentration of PM 2.5 particles – those small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream – hit 505 micrograms per cubic metre on Tuesday night. The World Health Organisation recommends a safe level of 25.” These statistics show that Beijing is being subjected to a high level of air pollution that is likely to cause serious health impacts for the inhabitants of the city. Kaiman mentions Chinas state newswire Xinhua, according to which 147 industrial companies in Beijing have postponed their production process due to smog and pollution (para.10). In China, 2000 people die each year due to weather extremes resulting from pollution (Blanchard, para.2). Section 3 Effect of Chinese Pollution on Other Countries The pollution in China is not only affecting its own citizens but is also creating adverse impacts upon other countries. Since much of this pollution arises from Chinese sweatshops, hence they are highly unethical as they are affecting both the Chinese population and the surrounding countries. Facts mentioned below will prove this point. Landau (para.1) asserts that the United States is experiencing pollution in many of its regions due to outsourcing manufacturing to China. Landau mentions a study that was published in the Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which states that, “In the western United States, Chinese pollution related to exports contributes up to 12% to 24% of daily sulfate concentrations” (para.3). So, the western areas, like the American West Coast and Los Angeles, are suffering more from the Chinese products that cause pollution (Thornhill, para.2). The study mentioned above also states that many parts of the United States violate the national ozone standards “one extra day per year” (qtd. in Landau, para.5). “Los Angeles, for example, experiences at least one extra day of smog that exceeds legal limits because of nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide emitted by Chinese factories producing goods for export” (Thornhill, para.6). Much of the blame goes to the Chinese sweatshops because many cheap goods that are consumed in the U.S. are produced in the Chinese sweatshops (Thornhill, para.1). For example, cellphones, televisions and many other electronics are produced in China and exported to U.S. Landau (para.6) asserts that although these devices do not cause pollution directly, but the pollution caused by the toxic chemicals released into the air during the manufacturing process create smog and dust that travels across the Pacific Ocean, and can be seen in the western states of the U.S. China does not have such controls on emissions and outsourcing as U.S. has, and thus, the manufacturing processes in China create many hazardous impacts. Sulfate concentrations and ozone and carbon monoxide levels are increasing in the air present in the surrounding countries of China, due to the Chinese pollution. Presence of toxic gases not only affects the air quality on the whole, but also leads to many diseases such as cancer, asthma, and lung and heart disorders. Again, much of the blame goes to the production being done in the Chinese sweatshops, as Landau (para.11) states: “36% of anthropogenic sulfur dioxide, 27% of nitrogen oxides, 22% of carbon monoxide and 17% of black carbon from Chinese emissions were linked to producing goods for export.” Only between 2000 and 2007, there has been 390% increase in the export of Chinese products (Landau, para.13), and many of these products are responsible for pollution either directly or indirectly. The global winds termed as westerlies are responsible for transmitting the contaminants from China across the Pacific Ocean and to the U.S., states Thornhill (para.10). Japan and South Korea are also suffering from this pollution. These facts prove the point that the sweatshops or sweat factories in China are unethical because they are causing pollution, and are destroying the environments surrounding the country. Section 4 Contribution to Global Warming Chinese sweatshops cause much of the pollution in China, which is a fact that points toward another critical issue; that is, China is not prepared to tackle climate change (Blanchard). There is “lack of planning and public awareness” (Blanchard, para.1) which contributes toward rising pollution levels and China’s inability to cope with weather extremes. In the northern areas, there have been more droughts, typhoons, dried up wetlands, risen sea levels, and unfavorable temperatures (Blanchard). Although China has been building more reservoirs and more sophisticated weather warning systems, yet it has been unable to effectively cope with the disastrous impacts of climate change. “A coal-dependent manufacturing base has made China the worlds biggest contributor to climate change” (Blanchard, para.11). This shows that there are many sweat factories and industries in China that are producing such emissions that are responsible for climate change around the globe. Pollution caused by the Chinese sweatshops also contributes in global warming. When the toxic gases, that the Chinese sweatshops emit, rise in concentration, they start absorbing sun’s heat which results in rise in temperature to a degree that is higher than tolerable. For example, industries and sweat factories that burn fossil fuels release gases like CO2 in the atmosphere. The level of these toxic gases is high enough to harm the environment, human beings, animals and plants. Major air pollutants that are present in these gases include suspended particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides, lead, ground level ozone, and fuel wood. Why the Chinese sweatshops are to blame is easy to understand. There are many electrical power plants, chemical industries, and metal and paper factories in China that tend to emit poisonous gases in the air which consist of particulate matter, sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons and carbon dioxides. Each of these industries depends on the labor work that comes from its sweatshops. Since urban areas have more factories and industries, there are more sweatshops there; and hence, the urban areas in China have higher level of air pollution than rural areas. China has also been suffering from occurrences of acid rain due to this pollution. When sweatshops emit high concentration of toxic gases like nitrogen and sulphur into the air, these gases react with the water vapors that are already present in the air. Consequently, they get converted into nitric acid and sulphuric acid, which are very deadly in nature. When an acid rain occurs, it brings huge amounts of these gases from the air down on us. Acid rain causes many health hazards, such as skin disorders and cancer. Natural disasters also occur due to acid rain, which include acidification of soil and erosion of buildings. The contaminants can also be driven by wind, and may get deposited onto the flora, thus, polluting the crops. Forests become acidified. Plants are affected, and this results in their reduced growth, which eventually results in reduced crop yield. The above-mentioned effects of air pollution being caused by the Chinese sweatshops strengthen the fact that Chinese sweatshops are unethical, and that China is not being able to tackle with the global warming and climate change impacts being caused by the pollution produced by its sweatshops. Conclusion The paper comprehensively explored how Chinese sweatshops are producing significant amounts of toxic gases that are being emitted into the air every day. The resulting pollution and air contamination is not only lowering the quality of air inside China, but is also posing great environmental threats to the surrounding environments. Westerlies, which are the global warming winds, carry the smog across the Pacific Ocean to the United States, and hence, the pollution is being transferred across the globe. Cheap goods being produced in the Chinese sweatshops produce significant amounts of toxins which cause this pollution. Hence, it is proved that Chinese sweatshops are unethical in this regard. Works Cited Beijing Environmental Protection Monitoring Center. Beijing Air Pollution: Real-time Air Quality Index (AQI). N.p., 2014. Web. 20 Nov 2014. . Blanchard, Ben. “China Admits It’s Poorly Prepared To Tackle Climate Change Impacts.” Reuters. TheHuffingtonPost.com Inc., 2013. Web. 19 Nov 2014. . Kaiman, Jonathan. “Chinas Toxic Air Pollution Resembles Nuclear Winter, Say Scientists.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited, 2014. Web. 20 Nov 2014. . Landau, Elizabeth. “China’s Exports Linked to Western U.S. Air Pollution.” CNN. Cable News Network, 2014. Web. 20 Nov 2014. . Thornhill, Ted. “Pollution Blowing Across Pacific Ocean from China to U.S. Caused by Manufacture of Cheap Goods Due To Be Sent To America.” MailOnline. Associated Newspapers Ltd., 2014. Web. 20 Nov 2014. < http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2543407/Pollution-blowing-Pacific-Ocean-China-U-S-factories-making-goods-America.html>. Read More