Air Pollution In China And The United States

In the past decade, the severe air pollution problem in fast developing countries, particularly in China, has caused highly social and scientific attention. In 2014, 92 % of the world population are exposed over to the WHO Air Quality Guidelines (AQG) PM2.5 concentration level of 10 μg/m3 (World Health Organization, 2016). Ambient particulate matter (PM) pollution ranked as the third leading risk factor in India and Nepal, and ranked as the fifth in China (GBD 2015 Risk Factors Collaborators, 2016). In 2012, about 3 million deaths globally were attributed solely to ambient air pollution, and around 87% of it occurred in low- and middle-income countries (World Health Organization, 2016).

Beijing, China has a coal mining history of nearly 800 and some odd years. This has been a major air pollutant and the main reason for it is because its economy has grown substantially in the last 30 years. Worldwide, there are twenty cities with the highest, worst air pollution, sixteen of those cities are within China alone. The main causes of Beijing’s air pollution can be pointed to several factors. Large economical growth, an increase in vehicles on the roads, growth in population, and manufacturing. China has also experienced major economic growth with a large rise in Gross Domestic Product. This increase can be connected with pollution. Vehicles are just one contributor to pollution which we will discuss later in this paper.

Another big difference is the role that the legislative branch plays. In China the legislative branch serves as a rubber stamp and is always in agreeance with the president. In the United States the legislative branch and the executive branch are both equal in power according to Article I of the United States Constitution. As a result, Congress is very polarized and they have a difficult time getting legislation

In December of 2015, China was faced with a “red alert” for air pollution. In an article from The New York Times titled “Smog So Thick, Beijing Comes to a Standstill,” Edward Wong stated, “For many residents, the red alert...underscored the devil’s handshake that China has made in recent years: the trading of a healthy living environment for breakneck economic growth.” There are many negative consequences of air pollution. Vaclav Smil’s “Environmental Degradation in China,” describes the various problems that China’s environment is facing. Smil explains that “air pollution is a ubiquitous and particularly troublesome problem in virtually all of China’s large cities and industrials areas” (778). China’s polluted air, along with the disappearance of good farmland, forest depletion and water resources, are all areas of concern that Smil brings to attention. These areas should not concern only China’s population, but it should be concerning to everyone around the world. Not only does air pollution have a negative effect on the environment, but it also has negative effects on society, as well. Air pollution can be explained as a social problem since many of these environmental problems are possible ramifications of urbanization. As higher-class individuals make lifestyle choices that directly impact the environment in a negative way, the entire population suffers the consequences. Because of the damaging effects of air pollution, China must develop a way to remain urbanized

In recent years, air pollution has become a growing problem in China (Zhang, Chao). According to the newly released scientific paper by Dan Levin, “Outdoor air pollution contributes to the deaths of an estimated 1.6 million people in China every year, or about 4,400 people a day” (Levin, Dan). Essentially, air is a major part of our overall health. However, people (including ourselves), especially living in developed countries, suffer from the exposure of air pollution. This potentially puts our health at risk. It causes various negative effects to our body that in worst cases leads to death. Air pollution affects our health in multiple ways; as it varies from minimal to serious problems. The air pollutants have negative effects on our cardiovascular system, causing many fatalities as well as diseases to those specifically in China. People can protect themselves from the suffrage of cardiovascular diseases by being cautious with what they are surrounded by.

On October 1st, 1949, the People’s Republic of China officially became a country and a player on the world stage. Since then, China has entered a new Communist era of stability, with the Reform and Opening Up policies of 1978 bringing in China’s phenomenal economic growth (Tisdell, 2008). However, with these advances in industry come a downside: air pollution. Since the early 1980s, air pollution levels have been climbing to dangerous levels. However, in 2013, the scales tipped for the worst. This certainly was not the first year that air contamination reared its ugly face, blackening Chinese cities, closing roadways and sending children to the hospital. Although difficulty breathing and poor air conditions had been a fact of life for most people in China, awareness of the problem peaked that year, causing 2013 to be remembered as the year that China’s struggle with air pollution went mainstream. Shortly after the start of the year, Beijing and surrounding regions were hit by pollution of unimaginable levels. At one point, in the middle of January, the Air Quality Index level in Beijing peaked as high as 993, far beyond levels health officials deem extremely dangerous. For comparison, on the same day in Miami, the AQI was 11 (Xinhua, 2013). As this air pollution issue continues to develop, it is vital that the Chinese put an end to this air contamination because of the health issues, economic issues, and international relation issues.

“Air pollution is defined as any substances absorb into atmosphere, and these substances harm the living things and environment” (Dictionary). As dictionary mentioned, during development of the Beijing for 10 years, air has been contaminated by emission of gases and smog from industrial factories whose number has been increasing. A number of particles and dusts damage to people’s health and their life style. People are always concerning about daily concentration of particles. Even though they struggle with defend their health against air pollution, polluted particles would give residences in Beijing fatal effect for people’s health. In Real-time Air Quality Index (AQI), we can compare Beijing to another countries using numerical data. This city is one of the most polluted city in the world. According to the article, “China 's massive pollution problem”, The Week, Wagstaff states that the air in Beijing is too dense with particles to watch the forest fire”(Wagstaff).

China’s energy consumption has spiked 130% from 2000 to 2010, because of this boost China has become the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Less than 1% of China’s 500 largest cities meet the WHO’s (World Health Organization) air quality standards. Between 350,000 and 500,000 people die prematurely each year as a result of outdoor air pollution in China. Air pollution isn’t the only dilemma, water in China has been polluted also. Nearly half of all rivers in the country are unsafe for human contact. In the North 300 to 500 million people lack access to piped water, and the piped water may not be safe either. 90% of underground water in cities and 70% of china’s rivers and lakes are now polluted. On top of that there is a water crisis also, that has turned China’s arable land into desert. Life expectancy in the north has decreased by 5.5 years, and children as young as 8 years old are developing lung cancer, and other health complications including respiratory, cardiovascular, and cerebrovascular diseases. Pollution in China not only affects the people it

Trade between China and Canada has expanded greatly over the past number of decades, placing China as Canada’s second-largest source of imports (Francis, Painchaud & Morin, 2005). Despite the $52.7 billion dollars in revenue China earned from 2013 Canadian imports (Tremblay, 2014), the cost of producing inexpensive goods is costing China greatly (Zhu & Ruth, 2015). Sun, Kahn & Zheng (2017) found that less than 1% of 500 cities in China meet World Health Organization air quality standards, consequently, the health of the people and the viability of the ecosystems are suffering. Since 1985 the export focus in China has moved from agriculture and mining to apparel, computers and electrical equipment (Francis, Painchaud & Morin, 2005). It is

It is no secret that China is one of the fastest growing countries in the nation, and over the past 3 decades China has had the fastest economic growth over all major nations. In conjunction to China’s economic development and industrialization comes the excessive burning of coal as a source of energy. According to china's ministry of environmental protection 9 out of 10 cities have such robust developed economy that they fail the countries pollution test. Manufacturing activities are the leading cause of environmental problems, And as the country continues to burn coal the country shows dangerous signs of apocalyptic levels. China is the world's largest polluter and they burn almost as much coal as the rest of the world combined. Industrial areas outside the city burn coal around the clock in order to power factories, high winds carry particulate matter throughout the country, not only affecting rural areas, but urban communities as well. China's reasons for using coal as an energy source, as opposed to alternatives, are that they have a huge resource for coal as well as it is an inexpensive and reliable source of energy. Although, burning coal is on the decline, it is still a large part of China’s energy structure. It is visibly evident that China’s air pollution is at a frightening all time high. These highly toxic particulate matter levels are not only concerning for the 21 million residents of Beijing, but as well as the rest of the world. Charlie Cambell a

For the residents of the China, the pollution is a thick smog draping the city that is only thickening by the moment. This has caused many health risks for residents, increase in major respiratory issues, and instilled a fear in residents to go outside. When you take a look at the population of china, you don't see people playing outside or sunbathing, you see them waking around with masks on their face in

Air pollution in China is known to be a nuisance to the Chinese as it has influenced their social and environmental life, however, it only affects the North-East region of China. Air pollution was a sign of economic process to China’s development as the increase in coal burning helped with the industrialisation which boosted their economy. Having a boost in their economy led the air to become polluted causing problems to people’s social and environmental life as their urbanisation and population started to grow (World bank, 2007). Not only that but it was also caused by vast amounts of automobiles being on the road as the vehicles produce many carbon dioxide emissions that are harmful to the air. Due to the air pollution in China, it has affected the social and environmental life of the Chinese people as it causes many of them

China is facing such air quality issues due to an exponential growth in their economy in a very

Smog has been spreading rapidly in China since 2013 with an increased number of haze days, which seriously affected residents ' daily life. Smog as an environmental problem has become a major social concern and the government has promulgated a number of policies and governance strategies. In June 2013, the State Council carried on the ten air pollution control measures and strived to practice the code of conduct --- "share breath and struggle". Subsequently, the State Council promulgated the "Air Pollution Control Action Plan"; the provinces and municipalities published the implementation details of air pollution control action plan and other documents. The introduction of these policies not only indicates that China urgently needs to solve the haze problem, but also shows Chinese government 's determination of environmental pollution control. China increases efforts to solve the air pollution including haze problem, and there are some results. However, consecutive smoggy skies and continuous spread across the country also show that for China air pollution governance will be a long battle.

Hong Kong’s air pollution has reached unprecedented, phenomenal levels, which seems to be growing controllably with each passing day, and creating worse situations. Despite there are desperate and overwhelming measures taken by the Hong Kong Government Authority to address and rectify the situation, the situation of air pollution is turning grimmer by the day.