Ideas worth spreading

How China is (and isn't) fighting pollution and climate change

1,944,792 views | Angel Hsu • TED2018

China is the world's biggest polluter -- and now one of its largest producers of clean energy. Which way will China go in the future, and how will it affect the global environment? Data scientist Angel Hsu describes how the most populous country on earth is creating a future based on alternative energy -- and facing up to the environmental catastrophe it created as it rapidly industrialized.

China is the world's biggest polluter -- and now one of its largest producers of clean energy. Which way will China go in the future, and how will it affect the global environment? Data scientist Angel Hsu describes how the most populous country on earth is creating a future based on alternative energy -- and facing up to the environmental catastrophe it created as it rapidly industrialized.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Learn about what you can do about climate change.

Read breaking news about China's environmental policy and impact.

About the speaker

Angel Hsu

Climate and data scientist

See speaker profile

Angel Hsu is a professor and data geek who applies data-driven methods to solve challenging environmental issues.

ChinaFile, 2018 | Explore

"Are China's Blue Skies Here to Stay?”

An online forum of China experts, including Dr. Hsu, discuss the recent improvements in China's air quality and what environmental action we can expect from China in the near- and medium-term.

Chai Jing (柴静), 2015 | Watch

Under the Dome: Air Pollution in China

Dubbed "China’s Silent Spring" — referring to Rachel Carson's landmark book, published in 1962, that ignited the modern environmental movement — this documentary garnered 300 million views before China's central government took it down after only four days. This video, more than any other popular media, awoke China's citizenry to the pernicious perils of the air they breathe.

Data-Driven Yale, 2015 | Article

"China's Silent Spring?"

Five key takeaways from Chai Jing's Under the Dome documentary, including an infographic that dives deeper into some of the facts and statistics presented in the film.

The Economist, 2018 | Article

"How China cut its air pollution"

Michael Greenstone | New York Times, 2018 | Article

"Four Years After Declaring War on Pollution, China Is Winning"

Succinct explainers of how China's central government recently cut air pollution in many of its major cities.

Angel Hsu and Carlin Rosengarten | China Dialogue, 2017 | Article

"The leadership void on climate change"

An article Dr. Hsu penned about China's and the US's leadership on climate change. The current US administration has backed away from climate commitments and China, to the Party's chagrin, has found itself in the unusual role as de facto leader of the global environmental movement. But is China prepared to assume this role?

Angel Hsu | In Routledge Handbook of Environment and Society in Asia, Paul G. Harris and Graeme Lang (eds.), 2015 | Article

"Seeing through the Smog: China's Air Pollution Challenge for East Asia"

Barbara Finamore | Polity, 2018 | Book

Will China Save the Planet?

A forthcoming book from one of the world's premier experts on China's environment, this is a must-read for anyone interested in China's and indeed the world's environmental outlook.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Learn about what you can do about climate change.

Read breaking news about China's environmental policy and impact.