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UST Critical Thinking

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UST Critical Thinking Essay All countries want go have growth and often aim to be a Westernized such as the United States or more specifically like New York and London. A city like Beijing is pretty developed and has a “similar” lifestyle as New Yorkers, however there are still significant differences such as the value in taking care of the environment. Pollution has always been a big issue in big cities, but the Western world has noticed that pollution has a bigger impact than just the weather, but it also affects the economy as well. Asian megacities like Beijing have not yet noticed how much of an impact that pollution can cause. The city of Beijing has been haunted by natural hazards such as droughts, floods, and earthquakes (Beckel, …show more content…

This proves that the city is young and productive, which means that the amount of workers and industries are more. Beijing was considered one of the most polluted cities in the world in the mid-1990s. The pollutants were coming from mainly exhaust emissions, specifically 1.4 million motor vehicles, over 5,000 factories and the burning of coal in domestic cooking and heating (Victor F.S. Sit, 115). Currently, the levels of OM2.5 particulates, which are the most hazardous to health, rose to 568 micrograms per cubic meter, according to the US embassy (BBC). PR2.5 particles have a diameter small enough to get into your lungs and are extremely dangerous and effect someone first hand, which is the reason many people wear face masks when going out. Going out without safety precautions such as a mask, may risk asthma and other respiratory illnesses. Around half a million of early deaths are cause by pollution in China, and it also lowers life expectancy due to heart and respiratory diseases …show more content…

Earlier this year, the Chinese government announced that they would ban the construction of new oil-refining, steel, cement, and thermal power plants starting in March in hopes of improving the air quality (BBC). Seth Doane of CBS news says that China is planning to take millions of older cars off the road to reduce emissions. There has recently been serious criticism from residents of larger cities like Beijing, saying that the choking of smog can last for days or even weeks. The World Health Organization stated that Beijing has reached 40 times the exposure limit of fine particulate matter. The latest plan of removing all high-polluting “yellow label” vehicles in Beijing that were registered before the end of 2005 from the roads by the end of 2015, and the same for all of China by 2017 (NY times). Another part of the action plan was to reduce coal consumption from around 67% last year to no more than 65% of energy use in 2017 (NY times). This part of the plan was criticized for not having specific limits of coal consumption by region, instead allowing local government to set those limits on their own which means the goals will be more

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