Air Pollution in Beijing - Term Paper Example

Air Pollution in Beijing Air pollution in the capital of China, Beijing, has overtime become an ever increasing issue among environmentalist and residents in China. Regrettably, any hopes of resolving this national calamity seems like just a mere dream. According to Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center, the current quality of air is reported to be above 300, which is considered hazardous by the World Health Organization. This is because dense smog hangs down the atmosphere affecting the people of Beijing. The monitoring stations observed that atmospheric particulates known as PM 2.5 are mostly responsible for air pollution in Beijing. The PM 2.5 can be described as small, invisible particles which affect and damage respiratory system (Louise Watt, 2013). Air pollution has turned out to be a major disaster in China due to the nation`s rapid pace of industrialization, explosive growth in car ownership, coal power, and disregard of environmental laws. Needless to say, this condition gets worse in winter because of heating activities. A study done in 2012 by environmental organization Greenpeace (2012) examining the health effects of air pollution projected that poor air quality causes deaths of nearly 8,600 people in the Chinese cities of Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi’an, and Beijing. This has triggered environmental experts and Doctors to expose the fact that PM 2.5 is capable of penetrating in body tissues and cause serious health problem such as lung diseases and the inflammation of human alveoli. Additionally, it enters the human blood circulation and infects the cardiovascular system leading to a significant increase in mortalities due to celebrovascular, cardiovascular, cancer, and respiratory diseases. For instance, hospitals in Beijing such as Tianjin United Family Hospital have shown rise in number of patients being treated with respiratory diseases by 50% (Greenpeace, 2012).Correspondingly, a study carried out by the American Heart Association in 2010 shows that a temporary exposure to PM 2.5 over a period of few days or weeks can lead to cardio vascular disease associated death and nonlethal occurrences that engross heart diseases, stroke and myocardial ischemia. On the other hand, constant exposure to high concentrations of PM 2.5 in the environment reduces life expectancy of a human being by 10% over years. Notably, PM2.5 is most usually associated with cardiovascular deaths as shown by most cohort studies. Notably, the focus on the above statement of PM is basically correct. Automatically, air emissions in conjunction with PM2.5 particles are generally responsible for cardiovascular diseases which causes health hazard to human being. Coal consumption is another huge factor that constitutes the challenge of air pollution in Beijing. In order to manage this pollution, the government of China must control the regional total coal consumption; replace urban coal consumption with another energy source and treatment of coal pollutant. Therefore, in order to cope with the severe air pollution brought about by coal combustion, pollutants such as nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide emission should be piped. In this regard, the state has come up with a DE-Nox subsiding scheme that releases thermal power industry pollution emission standards (GB3096-2012) that require all existing power plants to meet tighter pollutant emissions limits by 2014 (Greenpeace, 2012).In addition, it has recommended the shutdown of coal-fired industry boilers or their replacement with a more cleaner-energy industries. Disregard to environmental laws by citizens is another cause of the air pollution in Beijing. Currently, China`s charges for atmospheric pollutants are far much lower than the set costs of end of pipe contamination control. This has, to some extent, disheartened many enterprises from creating changes, and made it difficult to clearly define lawful and illegal pollutant discharging. A hike in pollution emission charges and strengthened supervision hard work could help make unlawful discharges unaffordable. In addition, the development of environmental policies, encouraging enterprises to cut effluence, and bringing total pollutants and their dealings under better control is recommended. A five-year plan for prevention and control of atmospheric pollution was officially announced by the government which required 47 cities, that is 14% of china`s land area to make the PM2.5 pollutant drop by 5% before 2015 in order to meet the national air pollution standard. The plan was to include methods such as DE-NOX retrofits for reconstruction of coal-fired industries boilers. The 5% target was based on estimation that vehicle consumption and coal consumption will increase by 50% and 30% respectfully in the major cities including Beijing. This shows that china will be able to attain its target of 5% reduction of pm2.5 emission by 2015. Vehicle emissions are the second greatest source of Beijing`s air pollution. As Xinhua (2012) asserts, more than 5million cars are registered in Beijing and are responsible for polluting the atmosphere by releasing their by-products, the exhaust emission which evaporates at the atmosphere. The combustion process of a vehicle results to emission of volatile organic compounds (VOC) gases, that include oxide of nitrogen (NOx), air particulate matter and oxide of nitrogen (NOx).The primary ingredient of pollution in Beijing is smog, which is made up of zone (O3) created when hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxide mix and react to sunshine in the environment. Ozone damages the respiratory system, causing reduction of lung capacity. Carbon monoxide (CO) is a monotonous, odorless gas that results from the burning of vestige fuels such as diesel and gasoline. Motor vehicles are the roots of almost 70 percent of this noxious waste. When breathed in, Carbon monoxide impairs the transportation of oxygen to the heart, head and other significant parts in the body. The consequences can be very much be seen in Beijing where most newborn children and people with chronic illnesses are adversely affected by carbon dioxide gas. Secondly, particulate matter refers to elements of metal, pollen and soot that give haze its foggy flush. However these particulates masquerade severe danger to human health. In addition, the particulates discharge sulfur dioxide hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxide, which participate a great deal in air pollution in Beijing. Another emission released by motor vehicles is Sulfur dioxide (SO 2), which results from burning sulfur-containing fuels, especially gasoline and diesel. Sulfur dioxide reacts to form particulates that present a health hazard to children and asthmatic people in Beijing. Lastly nitrogen oxides are car emissions that lead to lung damage and deterioration of an individual’s immunity towards respiratory diseases such as influenza and pneumonia. Furthermore, they help in the development of particulate matter and ozone. Because of the adverse risks caused by vehicle emissions, the government of China has put in place several measures to control the situation. It encourages the use of new technology such as electric cars in urban areas, which would certainly reduce emissions of automobile vehicle cities in Beijing. The process of sending the emissions to power plants would eradicate the harmful emissions of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and hydro monoxide from automobiles. Correspondingly, the EPA states that the individual automobile is the biggest polluter, as emissions from several cars on the highway add up. EAP describes the personal polluter as vehicle emission and particularly the particles that add up in the atmosphere. If electric cars (EVs) were to be charged at night when not in use, they would create a mixer of power plants that connect to the grid at that time (solar, nuclear coal, natural gas wind, hydro, wind, etc.) Only nuclear, hydro, solar, and wind would be emitted freely thus reducing the wrath of in toxic gases in the atmosphere. Furthermore, recent studies have shown that new electric cars normally use lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries. This is because lithium is a light metal and offers maximum electrochemical latent, which results in a high power and energy saving, thus making it friendly to the environment. Nevertheless, the use of lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles is an environmentally possible option because it evaluates whether the burdens related to the automobile vehicle battery are likely to compensate the benefits related to (evs). In this regard, it is essential to model electric mobility (E-mobility) including the vehicle’s production that use and disposal with a well-built focus on the Li-ion battery. This shows a cradle-to-grave structure without predefined limitation. Automobile cars are mostly discouraged due to their subsistence emission that only neglect potential environmental burdens like the one experienced in Beijing. In this regard, electronic vehicles are the best remedy for vehicle pollution in Beijing. Lastly, the federal air quality standards should tackle the indoor air pollution of cars, resident and buildings in correspondence with the EPA. In addition, the government should adjust open-air quality principles to account for apparent inside and within-car exposures to air pollution. Therefore, new standards should be set be set up to provide an adequate margin of safety to all people thus making it possible to conclude that the current standards are defensive to human health. Citizens of China are also held responsible for air pollution by the Chinese government. The government advises them to take personal initiatives to combat the vice and avoid indulging in activities that increase the risk of air pollution .For instance, turning off their engines when a vehicle is not in use so as to prevent more emission from going up the sky, travel at moderate and steady speeds. This is because high speeds only result in greater emissions and to keep their vehicles in good mechanical condition because poorly maintained vehicles only release as much as emissions than the properly maintained vehicles. Additionally, the people living in Beijing should fix air conditioning leaks in their vehicles so as to reduce air particles from dispersing to the atmosphere. In conclusion, Beijing is a city powered by coal-fired electricity stations, which are responsible for air pollution and which continues to have potentially lethal impacts on China`s urban population. Polluted air consists of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and volatile organic compounds, which affect the respiratory system. When inhaled, they adversely affect the body by contributing to numerous respiratory problems, certainly for people susceptible to allergic reactions and asthmatic condition. Therefore, the Chinese government should work on a plan on how to reduce air pollution and make the atmosphere clean for all. References Xinhua, June 12, (2012). “Experts identify causes of Beijings air pollution” China.org.cn Louise Watt October 7, (2012).“Beijing to give clearer indication of air quality”.phys.org Robert D. Brook, Sanjay Rajagopalan (May 10, 2010). “Particulate Matter Air Pollution and Cardiovascular Disease : An Update to the Scientific statement from the Amelican Heart Association’Amelican Heart Association. Greenpeace, W. (2012). “Dangerous Breathing”. Beijin: Dongcheng Klima, I and Engineringford (2009). The impact of electric vehicles on the energy industry. 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