Air Pollution in China

Lately, the air condition in the mid and east parts of China deteriorates. Take Beijing, the capital of China, for example, the city is currently suffering a severe haze when I’m writting this blog. It is the fourth time such weather condition dominates Beijing within this month. According to the investigation, pollutants emitted by industrial plants and automobiles are the major reason. People in Beijing have to wear gauze masks when they go out recently.

Since the economic reform in 1978, the economy of China has been growing at an amazing rate every year. Most people in China have got better accommodation, food and income. But one thing that cannot be denied is that in the process of economic development, the environment in China has been deteriorating all the time. Since more and more Chinese start to realize that environment can affect their quality of life substantially, they’ve been caring much more about the air and water condition. Accordingly, the government of China has been paying an increasing attention to the environment. A lot of evironmental-friendly policies have been made and went into effect, because the govenment gradually knows that if the situation of the deteriorating environment is not controled, it can eventually swallow all the progress made by lauching the ecomomic reform.

Yes, we want a beautiful China. Just as the vice premier of China, Li Keqiang, said to the journalists: New policies must be made and further measures must be taken to solve the environmental problems.

Picture Reference:

http://news.sina.com.cn/z/wgzdblxwm/

7 thoughts on “Air Pollution in China

  1. Hi Mike,

    It is said to see that what is happening now in Beijing it happened in London 70 years ago, in 1952. It is known as The Great Smog of ’52, and it was a severe air pollution event that affected London during December 1952. A period of cold weather, combined with an anticyclone and windless conditions, collected airborne pollutants mostly from the use of coal to form a thick layer of smog over the city. It lasted from Friday 5 to Tuesday 9 December 1952, and then dispersed quickly after a change of weather.

    In the five days the smog had covered London, over 4,000 more people had died than usual for that time of year. In the following weeks, approximately 8,000 more died from exposure to the Great Smog. Most of those killed were people who had pre-existing respiratory problems and the elderly.

    The good part from such a catastrophic environmental issue is that if it is very bad, there will be measures taken by the government. The London event, for example, known to be the worst air pollution event in the history of the United Kingdom, it is in the same time, the most significant in terms of its effect on environmental research, government regulation, and public awareness of the relationship between air quality and health. It led to several changes in practices and regulations, including the Clean Air Act 1956.

    Hence, for the good of the people living in the big cities, the Chinese government should take faster those measures/policies to solve the environmental problem.

    Mihaela

    • Very interesting move…

      However, by moving the capital out of Beijing there can be some different ways at looking at what they’re doing. On hand it says, “by us being here, we’re causing some extra environmental stress to the city so we should move.” However, who is to say that the same thing won’t happen to where it does move. Is it all possible that with Beijing already being such a large city with huge importance to business, a move of the capital would have little effect on pollution at all?

      On the other hand, it can almost be seen as the government literally trying to run away from the problems saying, “it’s too polluted here, we have to get out!”

  2. Your topic is very interesting about the Great Fog. I like it. Do you think PM2. 5 should announced regularly in the future? How to solve the great fog in the future.

  3. Interesting story Mike! Do you know if there are any specific significant contributors to the increase in smog? I wonder if what worked in London ( as Mihaela said) will work in Beijing? Thanks for sharing!

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