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NOVA: WORLD IN THE BALANCE: THE PEOPLE PARADOX/CHINA REVS UP (TV)

Summary

Two episodes in this series of science documentaries. This program, narrated by Oliver Platt, examines the social and environmental changes caused by dramatic shifts in the global population, as well as the effects of China's economic growth on the environment.

In episode one, "The People Paradox" (directed, produced, and written by Sarah Holt), a shot of Agra's commanding Taj Mahal accompanies statistics on how India will soon pass China as the world's most populous nation. However, fertility rates are shown to vary greatly between the country's northern and southern sections, with southern states having found success in encouraging smaller families. Dr. Ravi Anand believes that the problem lies in overpopulated states, such as Uttar Pradesh in the north, where illiteracy and lack of education hamper efforts for birth control.

Social traditions and gender preference are examined, as is the trend of "bride burning" when a husband maims or burns his wife when she fails to produce a son. Social worker Abidi Shah tells of trying to educate young girls in New Delhi suburbs to give them a vocation, thus raising the girls' status. Carl Haub of the Population Reference Bureau questions how the future size of India's family units will affect unemployment, chronic water shortages, and food production.

Japan has the opposite problem: population numbers are rapidly declining. According to Boston University anthropologist Merry White, the problem lies in the growth of "parasite singles": unmarried youths that live with their parents and pursue careers rather than marriage. Television producer Tomoko Omura tells how she waited until age forty-one to give birth, which is becoming the country's norm. Later, White notes that Japan has been in a recession for two decades, thereby necessitating that women join the work force.

Next, White examines how many elderly are living longer in Japan, but younger family members with jobs are unable to care for them. As the elderly now outnumber youths by a margin of almost one to three, the source of retirees' future funding is considered. Ben Wattenberg of the American Enterprise Institute notes that Japan may have to stop resisting an influx of immigrants, thus shoring up the work force. Japan's policy is contrasted with that of America, where an ongoing deluge of immigrants has helped form a productive economy.

In areas of Africa beneath the Sahara, rising demands for food, fuel, and shelter have had a major environmental effect, with the continent's forests disappearing at the fastest rate in the world. Kenya is considered "a success story," as two decades of family planning have cut the family size almost in half. But while the country's birth rate level has fallen, rising death rates from HIV-AIDS, particularly in Nairobi's slums, have caused a reversal in demographics. Research being conducted in the United States to perfect a vaginal gel to help prevent AIDS is then addressed. Next, Rosemary Muganda of the Center for the Study of Adolescence notes how an increasing number of young women are inducing their own abortions, necessitating the need for more education.

According to David Bloom of the Harvard School of Public Health, India and Kenya must continue to reduce fertility rates, with newfound resources used to boost the economy, as recently occurred in South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. He concludes that stabilization of the global population is crucial to "environmental sustainability."

In episode two, "China Revs Up" (produced, directed, and written by Chris Schmidt), atmospheric chemistry professor Dan Jaffe checks on air quality in the northwestern most quarter of the continental U.S. There, filters detect a variety of industrial poisons. Jaffe subsequently builds a flying laboratory to learn the source of the toxins. The equipment targets China as the culprit, with its pollution infiltrating West Coast locales from Washington to California.

Ding Yihui of China's National Climate Center states that "urban haze" -- the smoke-filled air in Beijing -- is increasing due to automobiles having largely replaced bicycles. Other Chinese cities have experienced similar scenarios due to citizens moving en masse from the country into urban areas. Statistics document that the country's economy has increased eight percent for the last twenty years, and the average income has quadrupled. As a result, Chinese consumers are mimicking American spending habits and causing energy consumption to skyrocket. The air in Beijing is shown to carry sulfur, lead, carbon monoxide, and dust, causing cases of respiratory disease to become "a leading killer."

A brief recap covers Chairman Mao Zedong's attempt to industrialize the nation in the '70s and leader Deng Xiao Ping's draconian one-child rule in the '80s. Pan Yue of China's Environmental Protection Agency explains how industrial development proceeded without any pollution controls, making for "an environmental nightmare." The current situation is worsened by the country's predominant use of coal as a cheap source of energy, electricity, and steel production. However, the government has recently begun to demand costly pollution controls for complicit companies, as well as the closing of older factories.

Kelly Sims Gallagher of Harvard University reviews how China's automobile industry ballooned after foreign auto companies invested in China in the '80s. The passenger car market grew, mirrored by pollution from the vehicles' tailpipes. The problem was intensified as China's emission control standards remain antiquated. Erik Eckholm of The New York Times states that the country is reluctant to shut down major auto plants due to potential job loss, as well as negative effects on the economy.

Meanwhile, consumer culture is making inroads in rural China, where farming is the mainstay. Eckholm states that too much of the land has been farmed, and that it has been done "inefficiently." Footage of the Yangtze River Valley's flooding in 1998 leads to commentary about the disaster being caused by farmers' removal of trees on plowed hillsides. However, as the country's crop fields shrink, demand for food is increasing. China's rising affluence is leading to a richer diet -- and the need to import from world markets. Eckholm believes that new industry and new jobs will ultimately result, causing yet more pollution.

Wildlife photographer Xi Zhinong tells how commercial logging in China has caused the near extinction of the country's golden snub-nosed monkeys. When the photographer and his wife released a film about the endangered primates, the government was shamed into providing assistance. John Holdren of Harvard University concludes that China needs to diversify its energy sources and work with America on products like hybrid automobiles. A solution for global warming must be sought, Holdren says, calling it "a challenge for the entire world to confront and surmount."

Contains two program-sponsored commercials and four promos.

Cataloging of this program was made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Details

  • NETWORK: PBS
  • DATE: April 20, 2004 8:00 PM
  • RUNNING TIME: 1:56:47
  • COLOR/B&W: Color
  • CATALOG ID: 100376
  • GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
  • SUBJECT HEADING: Population; China - Social conditions
  • SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1974-
  • COMMERCIALS:
    • TV - Commercials - Microsoft technologies
    • TV - Commercials - Sprint communications
    • TV - Promos - "American Masters: A Vision of America: Henry Luce & Time-Life's America"
    • TV - Promos - "Independent Lens: One Night at the Grand Star/Double Exposure"
    • TV - Promos - "Innovation"
    • TV - Promos - "P.O.V.: Love & Diane"

CREDITS

  • Paula S. Apsell … Executive Producer
  • Linda Harrar … Executive Producer
  • Laurie Cahalane … Coordinating Producer
  • Joel Olicker … Senior Producer, Writer
  • Stephen Sweigart … Supervising Producer
  • Sarah Holt … Producer, Director, Writer
  • Chris Schmidt … Producer, Director, Writer
  • Jackie Mow … Segment Producer, Segment Director
  • Susanne Simpson … Producer
  • Laura Pacheco … Associate Producer
  • Todd Wendel … Associate Producer
  • Nathan Gunner … Associate Producer
  • Melanie Wallace … Series Producer
  • Dan Rote … Field Producer
  • Jody Bortner … Animation
  • Cory Resh … Animation
  • Mike Zurcher … Animation
  • Dan Nutu … Animation
  • Michael Bacon … Music by
  • Mason Daring … Theme Music by
  • Martin Brody … Theme Music by
  • Michael Whalen … Theme Music by
  • Oliver Platt … Narrator
  • Linda Amendola … Voice
  • Rena Baskin … Voice
  • Will Lebow … Voice
  • Celeste Oliva … Voice
  • Stephanie Clayman … Voice
  • Jeremiah Kissel … Voice
  • Michelle Proude … Voice
  • Richard Snee … Voice
  • Scott Winters … Voice
  • Tug Yourgrou … Voice
  • Ravi Anand
  • David Bloom
  • Deng Xiao Ping
  • Ding Yihui
  • Erik Eckholm
  • Kelly Sims Gallagher
  • Carl Haub
  • John Holdren
  • Mao Zedong
  • Rosemary Muganda
  • Tomoko Omura
  • Pan Yue
  • Abidi Shah
  • Ben Wattenberg
  • Merry White
  • Xi Zhinong