Thesis: Emanating from intense economic development, air pollution has evolved into one of the most pertinent problems in modern China. Despite China’s GDP growth, the country has and continues to be puzzled by increased air congestion and the rise in chronic lifestyle disease including cancer and respiratory illnesses (Song & Wing 9).
Background: The persistent increase of air pollution in China is greatly attributed to the country’s economic development. As such, China’s economic development can be deduced to have occurred at the expense of the country’s public health and environment. The main reason as to why economic development is the cause if air pollution in China is the fact that industrialization, which is a core factor that supports China’s economic development has elicited the release of carbon emission (Managi & Shinji 24). In addition, burning of coal has greatly influenced the occurrence of air pollution.
Analysis: As aforementioned herein, economic development is the primary factor that has elicited the rise of air pollution in the Chinese context. Economic development in China has resulted in rapid industrialization. Industrialization has resulted in the intense release of carbon emissions, which is the core factor that has caused air pollution. Researches carried out in the recent past indicate that China is the world’s largest source of carbon emissions. This depicts the manner in which air pollution is a crucial concern.
Air pollution has a wider array of effects. More importantly, air pollution has a negative influence of the population’s health. Precisely, air pollution has been identified as one of the factors that cause cancer disease. Therefore, air pollution in china is to blame for the persistent rise in cases of cancer disease. Worth noting is the fact that cancer occurs as the leading cause of death in the Chinese context (Patel 51). In addition, air pollution has evolved into a public health concern because it has caused a reduction in the life expectancy of the Chinese populations.
In addition, air pollution in the Chinese context has resulted in the degradation of the country’s environment. One of the most pertinent reason as to why air pollution results in environmental degradation aligns with the fact that it injures the growth of plants. Researches carried in the recent past by Chinese scientists have indicated that air pollution in the country is high toxic and slow down photosynthesis of plants, which results in eventual destructions of plants. Evidently, destruction of plants results in degradation of the environment and a reduction in food supply (Riviera 47).
Apart from the above mentioned consequences of air pollution, there is a need to note that air pollution also results in a decrease in economic development. This has been the case in China in that air pollution negatively impacts on various economic activities. As an example, air pollution results in grounding of lights from and into China. This reduces the number of tourists coming into the country; hence, impacting negatively on the country’s economic development.
Recommendation: Conclusively, there is the need to amend existing laws in order to assure that air pollution in china is addressed. In fact there exist various solutions that could address the problem of air pollution in China (Xiang et al. 3), which include the following;
- Air pollution control: there is the need to control air pollution in order to avert the negative influences it poses on the public health and environment. This can be attained by controlling power plant emissions.
- Government regulation: there is the need to enact stringent government regulations that would help contain release of air contaminants across different contexts.
- Use of alternative energy sources: burning of coal emerges as one of the crucial factors that have resulted in the increase of air pollution in China. As such, there is the need to shift to alternative and clean energy sources such as wind and nuclear energy, which do not cause air pollution.
Conclusion: In conclusion, there is the need for remedial initiatives aimed at curbing air pollution, which has evolved into a matter of concern not only in China, but across different parts of the world. Despite the existence of policies aimed at curbing air pollution, little has been attained on the same. Arguably, addressing air pollution concerns calls for the management of economic development in order to control instance where it elicits air pollution.
Work Cited
Managi, Shunsuke, and Shinji Kaneko. Chinese Economic Development and the Environment. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2009. Print.
Patel, Sonal. “China’s War on Air Pollution.” Power 158.11 (2014): 49-52. Print.
Riviera, Gloria. “Pollution in China.” World Affairs 176.1 (2013): 43-50. Print.
Song, Ligang, and Wing T. Woo. China's Dilemma: Economic Growth, the Environment and Climate Change. Canberra: Anu E Press, 2008. Print.
Xiang, Hao, Mertz, Kristen, Arena Vincent, Brink, Luann, Xu, Xiaohui, Bi, Yongyi, Talbott, Evelyn. “Estimating the Short-Term Effects of Air Pollution on Stroke Hospital Admissions in Wuhan.” PloS ONE 8.4 (2013):1-5. Print.
