Introduction
Air pollution as the name clearly suggests, refers to the accumulation of particles or impurities in the air composition. These particles could be dust, smoke, burnt fuel like diesel or petrol, and other burnt components. Air pollution, particularly in China, is a major problem or bottleneck that is more often than not ignored at the risk of the people’s health as well as that of the economy. Major health conditions especially, respiratory conditions like asthma, bronchitis and other perilous conditions like cancer could spell doom for the people of China (Ho, and Chris 115). Measures to curb the problem have been taken into perspective, and this paper particularly focuses on China and discusses on how it should come up with solutions to solve the problem. Specifically, this paper addresses the Chinese government and the organizations in charge of the situation as the Green Peace East Asia Organization.
Cities of Beijing, Shanghai, and Honk Kong are mostly affected by the pollution. A dense cloud of smog and smoke hangs heavily over these cities and with the remarkably high population, including women and children and the elderly it is no surprise that people are living with asthma and other respiratory infections and conditions (Zhao 59). According to the Green Peace East Asia, the primary concern to the ordeal is the PM2.5; these are particles which have an aerodynamic diameter that is less than 2.5 micrometer. The organization further points out that, concentration levels of the PM2.5in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xi’an exceed the air quality guidelines by the World Health Organization (WHO). This translates to higher risks to the cerebrovascular system, cardiovascular system, and increased risk or propagation of premature death in children and cancerous conditions. The economic indications and expenditure in dealing and reducing these adverse health effects are extremely high. According to the NGO (Green peace East Asia), if the four cities successfully managed to control the PM2.5 levels as per the guidelines stipulated by the World Health Organization in 2012, the premature deaths number will reduce by at least 81% , thereby leading to a boom in the economy (Feng 23). The NGO further points out that the benefits reaped from reducing the adverse conditions in the four cities including the premature deaths will amount to 875 million US dollars.
The China’s economy has skyrocketed without a reasonable doubt but at what price? Factories, industries, power plants, and other heavy industries are all producing dirty, black, and polluted air as part of their waste products which causes a ripple in the health of the citizens and that of the environment. In a given case, a resident testified in the court fifteen years ago, that she wiped her kitchen window clean and did the same afterward with a clean white cloth to demonstrate and show that there was no soot and that it was clean. After an hour, she took a different clean white cloth and wiped the window with it; it came out as black and with soot. She later confessed to increased rates of cancer of the lung, asthma, and other respiratory infections. Later on, experts attributed these horrible conditions to toxins and soot emitted from the trains, trucks, ships and smokestacks. From this evidence, you can only sympathize to the lungs of the children and residents in the area as well as the port workers. With the large population of China, it is no wonder why there is a lot of pollution in the air (Urbanization, Energy, and Air Pollution in China 237). Think of all the people who own cars that burn petrol or diesel and produce smoke, all the people who burn coal, as well as all the people who use kerosene as part of their primary source of energy for lighting. It is impossible to come up with solutions or rather to solve this problem without considering the large population of China and their daily activities. Asian continent being one of the biggest continents in the world, its activities are actively contributing to the pollution of its atmosphere, and could quickly spread the deadly conditions across the whole continent (Urbanization, Energy, and Air Pollution in China 238). Also, with the increasing threat of Global Warming and its effects, the air pollution in China could easily worsen the condition at any moment leading to a world catastrophe that would not be so easy to stop. Thus, the situation needs to be dealt with as soon as possible before everyone feels the intensity of the conditions and probably pay with their lives.
Solutions to this problem range from simple ones to the more complex, and stringent measures. These solutions are straight forward as they simply require the whole country to take part towards their resolutions. China’s air pollution is costing it billions of dollars every year in health expenses. The simplest and basic solution to China’s economy is that of fuel consumption. The country needs to confront this problem at its cause; move away from fossil fuels and quit coal, and replace it with renewable and clean energy (Hackler 267). Conventionally, there are short-term, and intermediate solutions to air pollution, however, these solutions require government interventions and recognition of the situation at hand. Also, public education and awareness can be of great help in the fight for clean, healthy air and the environment at large.
Below is the list of possible actions that the government should take to mitigate air pollution:
The government needs to make air quality information readily accessible to the public
Enforce stringent measures and tighten the noose around the policies for emissions by power plants and heavy industries.
Develop and avail cleaner fuel alternatives like switching to vehicles that use electric power rather than fuel like diesel and petrol.
Put restrictions and quarantine to residential areas pushing the power plants and industries away from human settlements.
Improve the urban areas and the environment through planting trees and increasing green spaces.
When assessing new projects, the government needs to consider air quality and the implications of the projects to the environment and residents.
Scrap off the older and highly polluting trucks and cars off the roads and replace them with better and advanced ones that use alternative energy sources like electricity or hydrogen.
Strict and better policy recommendations, as well as applications, need to be enforced. These are some of the suggestions according to the Green Peace East Asia organization;
Reduce the region’s coal consumption and use
De-NOx retrofits for power plants using coal-fired energy
Shutdown and close all the inefficient industries that use coal energy
Establish legal regional coordinated plans and legal bindings to achieve national air quality levels or standards that also include clear cut timelines.
In addition to the above recommendations and solutions, the Chinese government should update its objectives and goals on air quality; this is because the objectives are 20 years outdated and way below the WHO recommendations and standards. Above all, the strength of my argument is the primary solution to this whole problem which I have mentioned above; the industries responsible for the emissions should be closed down, and environmentally-friendly policies are implemented.
Most of the recommendations that I made are directed to both the government and the mainstream policy actors. However, some showdowns are expected from these bodies entrusted with the policy implementation. For example, the government might complain about the huge expense proposed for controlling air pollution. The amount of money estimated to be spent by the Chinese government is 215 billion US dollars. Moreover, the Chinese government spends 6.5 percent of its GDP on environmental control and conservation, and as the quoted amount on just controlling air pollution will be beyond its budgetary scope.
Despite, these short-term views points about my recommendations, they stand to have long-term benefits to the country, and the resultant impact will be to the greater advantage to the country’s productivity. Thus, the government should consider these recommendations and solutions as good precedence to its future stake and sustainability.
With all due respect to the Chinese government’s viewpoint and decision; instead of pushing for production of more cars to replace the old trucks and cars that emit more gasses to the air as a way of curbing pollution, it government should instead instigate for the production of emission-free cars that can utilize clean energy. These measures will in conserving the environment, and also inspire innovations that would so quickly put China on the map as one of the top automobile industries and countries in the world (Hackler 268).
It is no doubt that these issues need to be tackled from all the evidence mentioned in the paper. The premature births, cancer cases, respiratory infections, defective children, and deaths need to stop as a result of adopting these interventions. The Chinese people have equal rights as much as we do to have a better and quality life. Besides, the imminent threat of global warming should be reason enough to stop this catastrophe in China.
Works Cited
Feng, Therese. Controlling Air Pollution in China: Risk Valuation and the Definition of Environmental Policy. Cheltenham, UK: E. Elgar, 1999. Print.
Hackler, Darrene L. Cities in the Technology Economy. Armonk, N.Y: M.E. Sharpe, 2006. Print.,
Ho, Mun S, and Chris P. Nielsen. Clearing the Air: The Health and Economic Damages of Air Pollution in China. Cambridge: MIT, 2007. Print.
Urbanization, Energy, and Air Pollution in China: The Challenges Ahead : Proceedings of a Symposium. Washington, D.C: National Academies Press, 2004. Print.
Zhao, Jingzhu. Ecological and Environmental Science & Technology in China: A Roadmap to 2050. Beijing: Science Press, 2010. Print.
