Overview

The largest emitter of green-house gases since 2007 and top polluter of the increasingly stressed Pacific Ocean, the People’s Republic of China is both a major contributor to environmental degradation and a leading contender to mitigate and stabilize global environmental conditions. Reviewing the history of the PRC from the periods of central economic planning (1953-1978) followed by the single-minded pursuit of economic growth and mass consumption beginning in 1978-1979 to the adoption of a more balanced approach stressing environmental protection and restoration beginning in the 1990s, Historical Dictionary of the Chinese Environment documents both the enormous damage to the country’s natural environment and the dramatic attempts by the Chinese government and environmental non-government organizations (ENGOs) at environmental amelioration and restoration. Historical Dictionary of the Chinese Environment contains a chronology, an introduction, appendixes and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 200 cross-referenced entries on environmental degradation including air and water pollution, deforestation, desertification, and resource depletion while efforts at amelioration and restoration include river and waterway clean-ups, reforestation and desert control, restoration of fisheries, creation of national nature reserves, along with energy conservation and development of renewables such as solar and wind power. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the Chinese Environment.

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9781538120354

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Reviews

"Sullivan (emer., Adelphi Univ.) and Liu-Sullivan (City Univ. of New York) provide a comprehensive dictionary of over 200 entries on the Chinese environment. Entries range from ""Acid Rain"" to ""Zhou Enlai"" (former premier of the People's Republic of China and foreign minister who advocated for environmental protection), and feature romanized Chinese-language terms. Also featured is an extensive chronology that begins at 720-221 BCE, when major deforestation began in the North China Plain, and extends to August 2019, when massive glacier and ice sheet melts were experienced in the Arctic, Greenland, and Alaska after record high temperatures. Readers will also find a list of the acronyms and abbreviations used throughout the book, a glossary of common Chinese terms in romanized form, appendixes (lists of relevant organizations, environmental activists, laws, and natural reserves), and an extensive bibliography categorized by subject. Black-and-white maps of China are provided at the beginning of the book. The brief alphabetical entries discuss key events, people, social issues, and policies that together encompass Chinese environmental studies. This volume will be a valuable resource for a variety of audiences interested in the Chinese environment, or in Asian studies and history in general. A must-have reference acquisition for academic and public libraries. Summing Up: Essential. All readers."

Sullivan (emer., Adelphi Univ.) and Liu-Sullivan (City Univ. of New York) provide a comprehensive dictionary of over 200 entries on the Chinese environment. Entries range from Acid Rain to Zhou Enlai (former premier of the People's Republic of China and foreign minister who advocated for environmental protection), and feature romanized Chinese-language terms. Also featured is an extensive chronology that begins at 720-221 BCE, when major deforestation began in the North China Plain, and extends to August 2019, when massive glacier and ice sheet melts were experienced in the Arctic, Greenland, and Alaska after record high temperatures. Readers will also find a list of the acronyms and abbreviations used throughout the book, a glossary of common Chinese terms in romanized form, appendixes (lists of relevant organizations, environmental activists, laws, and natural reserves), and an extensive bibliography categorized by subject. Black-and-white maps of China are provided at the beginning of the book. The brief alphabetical entries discuss key events, people, social issues, and policies that together encompass Chinese environmental studies. This volume will be a valuable resource for a variety of audiences interested in the Chinese environment, or in Asian studies and history in general. A must-have reference acquisition for academic and public libraries. Summing Up: Essential. All readers.--CHOICE

Author Information

Lawrence R. Sullivan is a professor emeritus of political science, Adelphi University, Garden City, New York, and a research associate, East Asian Institute, Columbia University, New York City. He is co-editor and co-translator of several works on the Chinese environment including China’s Water Crisis by Ma Jun (2004) and The River Dragon has Come!: The Three Gorges Dam and the Fate of China’s Yangtze River and Its People (1998) by Dai Qing. Nancy Y. Liu has conducted research at Sloan-Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York City, and is currently a lecturer in the Department of Biology, College of Staten Island (CSI), City University of New York where she also conducts cancer research.

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