Solving China's Air Pollution Essay

This paper argues that multinational corporations in China despite their huge contributions in improving the Chinese economy and boosting its standing in the global market, have given less consideration to environmental policies. It also argues that China’s immense desire for economic growth made the country disregardful in enforcing its policies in the environmental scale. Lastly, the paper argues that

Air pollution serves as the biggest concern in the realm of environmental problems in China. Two thirds of Chinese cities’ air quality are below the standards established by the World Health Organization (“Special Report,” 2004). Consequently, three-eighths of the population breathe unhealthy air on a daily basis inhaling tiny particles into their lungs resulting in an average of 1.6 million deaths per year from asthma, lung cancer, stroke and heart disease (Levin, 2015). Industrial emissions contribute

Air pollution by definition, is the presence in or introduction into the air of a substance which has harmful or poisonous effects. Beijing is a major Chinese city that endures air pollution significantly. A study on the global burden of disease found that outdoor air pollution contributed to 1.2 million premature deaths in China each year (Chemical & Engineering News,2017). As China is the world's second largest economy behind the United States, it is most definitely under the influence of globalization. Globalization causes industrialization, a process that will inevitably create pollution.70% of air pollution in China is from the tailpipes of automobiles (Conserve Energy Future, 2017). Thus, the introduction of advanced transportation brought by globalization has adversely affected China's atmosphere.

However, China accounts for 33% of the worlds Greenhouse gas emissions, mainly arising as a result of rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, and the deforestation that occurs in its wake. China is also suffering from desertification, coastal reclamation and severe climate change as are result of their long time blasé attitude towards environmental issues. While the Chinese Government now do acknowledge that environmental oversight has occurred, strict censorship within China deprives outsiders of receiving the full story of the environmental calamity that is occurring within China. Citizens within China are becoming increasingly concerned with governmental policy that regards further unnecessary degradation of the environment. A retired party official revealed that there had been 50,000 environmental protests within China in 2012 alone. China has amended numerous government acts and implemented strict new regulations in an attempt to curb pollution and Greenhouse gas production. However, the problem China faces cannot be swept under the 'bureaucratic rug' so to speak. The problem rests with the lack of an alternative clean energy to the fossil fuels currently used to fuel China's resource hungry industry. China has implemented numerous 'real world' measures to reduce environmental impact. Perhaps the most well known of these projects is 'Green Wall of China', which is a 4,500 km green belt

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).

Collier asserts that the poorest states are in need of rapid economic growth which creates tension between poverty reduction and the perversion of nature. This is most evident in China where their desire to grow economically has come at the price of pollution. While China has grown exponentially economically and have reduced poverty, this growth is not sustainable due to their negligence of the environment. The level of pollution in major cities has hurt the Chinese economy because individuals are refusing to do business there due to health concerns. This effects Chinese businesses and their tourism industry. More times than not, states will choose economic growth, however, in the long run this choice will negatively impact their economy.

Beijing, the capital of China, since the development of industrialization and economy, the environmental problems emerge gradually. Especially air pollution is becoming a huge problem today. Air pollution is the harmful matters including particulates and biological molecules introduced into Earth’s atmosphere which is harmful to both human health and natural environment. This essay will firstly illustrate the main causes of air pollution in Beijing, including natural causes and man-made causes, and then outline some effects of this problem.

One of China’s best successes has in turn been one of its biggest downfalls. One of the main problems is China’s greatest success which has been its phenomenal economic growth. This is one of the main drivers of the current environmental problems that the country faces. Factories dump pollutants into the air and water. It is difficult to see the Chinese government making the significant sacrifices required to improve their environment if it means slowing down their economic growth.

Depicted below are maps from Berkeley Earth, an independent nonprofit organization of scientists who study global climate. They illustrate China and its annual average of PM2.5 and PM10 pollutants, respectively. China harbors the largest congregation of PM2.5, and its PM10 levels are just as hazardous. The United States Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, states that within the United States “roughly one out of three” people possess a higher risk of developing pollution-related diseases, such as respiratory illnesses, childhood cancer, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and diabetes, than the general public; in comparison, of China’s tremendous population of 1.3678 billion

China is a place known for it’s innovations and a knowledgeable powerhouse being at the forefront of technology for decades. It is also known for is frequent issues with pollution and not only in designated cities, the pollution problem is wide spread. China is in fact the largest consumer of coal in the world. This is because China uses coal as its main source of energy and delivers 70 percent of that energy for all of the nation’s needs. The problem with this strong reliance on coal for energy needs is that it emits the most carbon dioxide per electricity than any other energy source produced today, and it turns out that China has upped their usage by 17% in the last couple of years according to TIME Magazine (Worland).

As we know, China is a big country as well as a developing country. Developing countries need to develop quickly so that they can catch up with those developed ones; as a result, many enterprises in china keep running days and nights, which let out effluent continuously at the same time they gain profit. Another

In 1998, China signed the Kyoto Protocol and, like all other signatory countries, its enforcement period started in 2005. However, China, together with other developing countries like India, is exempted from complying with the Protocol, since imposing limits on GHG emissions would imply restricting the high industrial growth the country has been undergoing. Although China has made efforts towards mitigating the effects of its economy on the environment, it still has a leading position in global emissions, accounting for 29% in 2011. China’s main efforts are an increased participation in world negotiations, increased ETS trading and increased transparency requirements for the main emitters of GHG.

Political Factors: The Chinese government has realised and reached a consensus on the importance of prioritising environmental protection beyond a “basic policy” of country agenda from 2009. The Chinese State Environmental Protection Agency spent $162.5 billion on environmental protection in 2009 and the Chinese government strongly committed

In the past decade, China has experienced severe haze pollution. According to the research data, over these years, 14 million tons of Particulate Matter 2.5 (PM2.5) and 2 million tons of Black Carbon (BC) were emitted into the atmosphere annually. As is shown in Figure 1, the air condition in Beijing was so poor that the whole city was enveloped with the haze. In ambient air, particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) refers the particles that is less than or equal to 2.5 micron in aerodynamic equivalent diameter. These emissions of

Pollution is one of the typical examples of negative production externality. For every Chinese citizen, nowadays, his or her health is seriously threatened by China’s notorious air pollution. However, the relevant environmental protection institutions keep ignoring such