According to the article, China’s air pollution kills about 4000 people a day and the reason quoted is the burning of coal in the country. The main pollutants are tiny particles which are called PM2.5s which are the leading cause of stroke, heart attack, lung cancer, asthma and are responsible for China’s 17% mortality rate as recorded by Berkeley Earth. Richard Muller, the scientific director of Berkeley Earth, reported about his stay in China that when he was visiting Beijing, every hour that he was exposed to the air, he was losing twenty minutes of his lifespan. This is equivalent to every man and woman having 1.5 cigarettes by the hour. The situation regarding air pollution was recorded after heavy smog that gathered in the cities of Beijing and Shanghai in the country. The steps being taken by them include monitoring the air quality standards, adopting cleaner methods for fuel and transportation and at the same time shut down coal plants and to move the factories away from the cities.
The concentrations of PM2.5s are already at levels exceeding the level of danger, and people health are endangered. However, air quality has improved in 358 cities in the country already as reported by Dong Liansai, who is the energy and climate campaigner in Greenpeace East Asia. Muller and Robert Rhode analyzed 1500 ground stations in China. From the time periods in the years 2014- 2015, 92% of the Chinese population inhaled unhealthy air on a daily basis. 38% of the population inhaled unhealthy air from the 4 span months of April to August. The official standards of the air quality were unmet by 90% of the 161 cities under study. The levels of PM2.5s were exceeding due to the levels of sulfur dioxide in the air released by burning coal. The reason stands that China’s 64% of energy production is generated by coal. The country tends to shut down many plants and open ones that produce cleaner energy in the year 2016-2020.
Also to drive out the pollutants from the country, it tends to generate energy by nuclear and other renewable sources by the year 2030. (Morales, 2015).
Air pollution can also be a problem in America; in fact, there are many cities that are under this issue and are suffering from air pollution directly. There are several States in North America that have moderate and unhealthy levels of air pollution in the country. This is because North America has a huge chemical and manufacturing industry which has been present since the 1700s when coal mining has been discovered and practiced in the country. Air pollution is worst in the country in the larger States, and this is not only because of industries but also because of a large amount of traffic and the emission of greenhouse gases and pollutants in the air. These include Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, Visalia, Bakersfield, Fresno and others include Houston, Dallas, Phoenix, Scarsdale, Knoxville, Charlotte and Mesa. (Sauter et al., 2015).
Over 44% of the American population lives under the threat of air pollution where the pollution reaches dangerously high levels all year round. The industrial standings of many cities are responsible for the smog and pollution. The steel industry is another one which causes a lot of pollution in the country. (Sauter et al., 2015).
California, for instance, is a State that is at most risk because of the wildfires in the area and the condition of drought and dryness in the air which renders the air polluted and unsafe for inhalation. The California Central Valley is one area that is at most risk from air pollution because it is surrounded by mountains on all three sides and it traps air pollution that is released from the San Francisco Bay Area in the valley. (Sauter et al., 2015). If America turns to cleaner methods of energy production in the country like China is changing its ways and moving away from the usage of coal, and then the country can prevent air pollution from escalating.
References
Morales, Alex. (2015). “China Air pollution kills 4000 people a day.” Bloomberg Business.
Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-13/china-air-pollution-kills-4-000-people-a-day-researchers
Sauter, B. Michael, Stebbins, Samuel, Frohlich, C. Thomas. (2015). “the 10 most polluted cities
in America.” Retrieved from http://247wallst.com/special-report/2015/08/18/the-10-most-polluted-cities-in-america-2/
