Introduction:
China has suffered from pollution issues, such as air and water pollution, for a long time. On Thursday Nov. 5th, 2013, the China’s National Meteorological Center renewed a yellow alert for heavy smog and fog continued to hit many parts of east and north China, causing traffic disruptions and school closures (Mu 2013). This essay will mainly focus on discussing the effectiveness of agencies and policies with respect to the air pollution. It will reveal the main causes of heavy air pollution along with the remedies adopted by the government. Finally it will present practical difficulties to bring the implementation of environmental policies into effect.
Causes of air pollution and major polluters:
In recent decades, China experienced a great economic growth. The active economic performance requires a large amount of usage of energy, and the massive use of energy disturbs the environment in the form of pollution. That is the root cause of China’s air pollution.
There are two major causes of air pollution in China. Firstly, soot and sulfur dioxide caused by coal burning are the two main air pollutants and coal burning occupies 50.2% of total energy consumption in China in 2012 (BP 2013). Industrial production processes consume more than half of China's coal and are the biggest sources of air pollution. Moreover, it is worth mention that the burning of coal for heating in winter in many northern cities of China worsens the air quality. However, this essay will not consider this source due to it is a seasonal effect and is the most efficient way of supplying heat considering the large number of population in China. Another major air pollutant was produced during transportation by consuming oil and gasoline, especially ...
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...ut, beyond a certain point, growths in GDP per capita would result in reductions of environmental damage. Moreover, some scholars estimate that the turning point requires $34,000 GDP per capita, which means China, with $9,233 GDP per capita and highest energy consumption growth rate, still has a long way to go to “climb over the mountain”.
Conclusion:
This essay firstly introduced the urgency of air pollution issue in China, and then identified two main sources of air pollutants: coal burning and automobile emission. It was followed by discussions about policies towards solving this issue. Eventually, the difficulties of setting national emission standard, lack of technical support, interest conflict between central and local governments, and economic growth priority were identified as the four main obstacles that hinder the enforcement of environmental policies.
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.
China’s economy is one very large indicator of its role in globalization. “In 2010 China became the world’s largest exporter” (CIA World Factbook). Without China many places such as the United States of America would be without billions of goods imported from China annually. An influx of companies moving their manufacturing to China has allowed people to flock to cities and find jobs. China’s economy has grown exponentially over the last few decades. In the last three years China’s economy has grown by nearly ten percent every year. Despite this influx of money to China it has also resulted in many drawbacks. For example, China’s environment has been obliterated. China burns more coal than every country in the world combined. Beijing has been so badly polluted that there are actually companies that sell cans of fresh air to people, and gas masks are a common sight. On January 12th 2013 Beijing’s air pollution reached a record setting 775 PPM. To put that into perspective, the scale for measuring pollution is 0-500 PPM. This set an all-time recorded high. In Los Angeles a high ...
In an era of rising technology and increasing population, demands on the environment are continually being pushed to new levels. As a result, it becomes important for us to expand our knowledge about the environment and take appropriate actions to protect this element of most importance to human existence. One component of our environment experiencing some of the greatest abuse due to humans is the air. Air pollution has been on the rise ever since the beginning of industrialization. The climbing number of factories and use of cars worldwide are the major culprits of this environmental hazard. There are various gases released into the air that can be considered air pollutants, but one of the most prevalent and dangerous to the environment is carbon dioxide (CO2). Up to 95% of the CO2 produced is the result of natural processes (Burnett & Matthews Jr., 1998). The rest is a direct result of human activity, primarily through the burning of fossil fuels in the production of energy
Air pollution affects both New York’s environment and people. Emissions from industry, power plants, and vehicles are released into the atmosphere, causing smog, photochemical smog, particulate matter, ground level ozone, and acid rain. Air pollutants lead to respiratory problems in humans, and increase the severity in those who already have respiratory system related illnesses. Acid precipitation damages buildings, cars, trees, and crops, which can cause quite a financial burden – this is especially concerning when it comes to preserving New York City’s many historic buildings. Air pollution also contributes towards global warming which causes a change in the Earth’s climate. Drastic actions need to be put in motion in order for the issue
...st and stand in the world. It is predicted that China will one day be the largest economy growing country in world. They continually growing and rebalancing their world to be the best. The growth of economy will depend on the Chinese government comprehensive economic reforms that more quickly accelerate in China transition to a free market economy. The consumer demand, rather than exporting the main engine of economic growth; boost productivity and innovation; address growing income disparities; and enhance environmental. (Morrison, 2014,para2)
Just like Klein states, “Protecting and valuing the earth’s ingenious systems of reproducing life and the fertility of all of its inhabitants, may lie at the center of the shift in worldview that must take place if we are to move beyond extractivism” (424). Indeed to build a better world, we must go beyond the capitalism, however, unlike the divestment movement around other countries, it is challenging for people in China to take action to against the air pollution due to the fact that those heavy industries and businesses have Chinese government in their back to support
... This has resulted in increased pollution due to livestock releasing methane gas into the air. And due to demand for electrical goods from western countries, it has helped China to produce a capitalist economy. This has enabled China’s citizens to have a prosperous lifestyle, which has increased pollution due to the increase in energy use and waste production. Furthermore, although the Chinese government and its citizens are trying to tackle their environmental problems, it seems to be too little too late.
Air Pollution in Mexico City Mexico City adds an estimated one million new residents each year, resulting in one million new additions to the city’s already abominable air quality (Collins, 119). Over the span of a generation, Mexico City’s air has gone from being one of the world’s cleanest to one of the world’s most polluted, as well as the most polluted in its country. The average visibility in the city is down from almost 100 km in the 1940s to only 1.5 km today, removing the once beautiful landscape of the surrounding snow-capped volcanoes (Yip, 1). More significantly, however, Mexico City’s air problems have resulted in a notable decrease in the health of its residents, particularly its children. There are a variety of reasons for the decline in air quality, including factory emissions, suspended particles, vehicles, as well as problematic geographic hindrances.
One of the most dangerous environment issues Southern California is facing today is air pollution. This includes the burning of fossil fuels and natural disasters. Los Angeles is one of the most polluted cities in the world, and the most polluted city in the United States. I will research information about the causes, the effects, and the history of air pollution in the Los Angeles. For my research, I have relied mostly on, the school’s database and library, as well as current events.
Many cities are currently affected by air pollution and Hong Kong is one example. Hong Kong’s air pollution level often exceeds the recommended air pollution level put out by the World Health Organization, and Hong Kong’s pollution index was at “very high” meaning that it exceeded 101, for 34% of the time (Hunt, 2011). Another example, when Hong Kong excee...
Air pollution is caused by many things such as car fumes, burning of fossil fuels,
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Vidal, J., & Adam, D. (2007, June 19). China overtakes US as world's biggest CO2 emitter. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/jun/19/china.usnews
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Factories and transportation depend on huge amounts of fuel--billions of tons of coal and oil are consumed around the world every year. When these fuels burn they introduce smoke and other, less visible, by-products into the atmosphere.