In the wake of the Paris Climate Agreement, it is pretty shocking to see these photographs taken in the Shanxi province in Northern China. Shanxi is the leading producer of coal in the most populated country in the world, with about 260 billion metric tonnes of coal deposits, a third of China’s total. The region produces more than 300 million metric tonnes of coal annually, and heavily depends on coal mining and burning coal for energy. That makes Shanxi is one of the most polluted areas in China.
Over the weekend 195 countries approved an agreement to set targets on reducing carbon emissions — the primary cause of global warming — in an attempt to forge a new global agreement on climate change. China is the source of nearly a third of the world’s total carbon dioxide emissions. China’s government has publicly set 2030 as a deadline to reach the country’s emissions peak, and data suggest its coal consumption is already in decline. But based on the scenes below captured by Getty Images photographer Kevin Frayer, this could be a daunting challenge.
A coal mine worker monitors a sorting area at a coal mine
Miners in a coal mine
Grave markers are seen in a cemetary as smoke billows from a coal fired power plant
Residents walk in a neighbourhood next to a coal fired power plant
The boot of a miner resting on a piece of coal
Workers monitor a sorting area at a coal mine
Workers stands next to a coal sorting machinery
Workers watches coal move on a belt
A mine worker warms herself over a stove as she takes a break
Workers sort coal for quality
Wearing mask is a must
A mine worker stands in front of his locker after finishing a shift
Coal is piled up as it is sorted at a coal mine
A woman collects coal in a sorting area at a mine
Man of coal
Residents wear masks for protection
Wang Nu,83, looks out the window of her house next to a coal fired power plant
Cityscape
A man carries coal he collected from a sorting area
Photos: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images