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Social Change and Challenges
Quick questions on The environmental cost of growth explained: H2 China Studies
5short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is the environmental cost of the growth model?Show answer
China's growth model exacted a heavy environmental price. Decades of rapid, energy-intensive industrialisation, powered overwhelmingly by coal, combined with breakneck urbanisation and construction, produced severe environmental degradation. Air pollution in major cities reached hazardous levels, with smog a visible and notorious problem. Water pollution contaminated rivers and groundwater, and water scarcity worsened, especially in the north.
What are the limits?Show answer
A balanced evaluation recognises the limits. China remains the world's largest consumer of coal and the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, and coal still dominates its energy mix, reflecting the priority of energy security and the difficulty of weaning a vast industrial economy off it. The legacy of decades of damage, contaminated soil and water, degraded ecosystems, will take generations to remedy. The tension with growth and jobs persists: clean-up can mean closing factories and raising costs, which conflicts with employment and local interests.
What is q1?Show answer
Identify three environmental costs of China's growth model. [4 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
Explain why China prioritised growth over the environment for much of the reform era. [12 marks]
What is q3?Show answer
"China has shown it can clean up its environment without sacrificing growth." How far do you agree? [20 marks]
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