An atlas dealing with China's population, environment and sustainable development has been recently published. It is the first one of its kind ever known in China and abroad. Of large size, the atlas is sponsored by the State Environmental Protection Administration and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
With the advent of the 21st century, China is facing greater and greater pressure in population, environment and unexpected challenges from sustainable development. To give a scientific answer to these problems, experts have spent five years researching and studying in compilation of the atlas.
Put out in Chinese and English editions, the atlas consists of 180 odd maps in nine map groups and over 200 photos with a total of 180 thousand words in illustration. It presents a vivid description of the basic conditions of population and health, inhabitance and consumption, land and its deterioration, noise, forest, grassland and biological diversity, freshwater, ocean and water pollution, air and its pollution, women and development, as well as regional sustainable development in China.
Experts made special studies in the atlas on the characteristics, quantity and quality of 1.2 billion Chinese and predictions on the country's population growth scale and regional differences. It reflects current ecological conditions and contains comments and analyses on the ecological vulnerability and crisis in certain areas. Along with appropriate solutions to environmental pollution, it also offers analyses into regional gaps in economic development and production and consumption of grain and resources and the population supporting capacity of lands in China.
(People's Daily)
