Air Pollution in China - Research Paper Example

ID number: Research Paper: Air pollution in China Introduction Pollution is a major environmental concern that prevails in the environment. In China pollution is regarded as one of the most important environmental factor that disrupts the atmosphere of the region. There has been an increase in different forms of pollution in the region as there is an evolution of industrialization in China. This rise in environmental pollution is a major issue that has given rise to many kinds of health problems in the country. The World Bank as per its statistics in the year 2007 states that China comprise of 16 cities out of the 20 cities that are considered to be the most polluted cities across the globe. This is the main problem of the research that has been identified in order to formulate the thesis. There are certain areas that would be focused on through this research study. Pollution has become a vital aspect in today’s environment and this aspect would be dealt with in this study. The research study would denote the cause as well as the possible measures that the government is taking in China so as to lower down the pollution level. The research study would comprise of a background that would state the main reasons behind the excessive pollution in this region. There are various factors that contribute towards the pollution factor in China such as industrial wastages that forms the vital element that contributes towards increasing pollution in this region. The regions of China consist of water pollution, air pollution, organic pollutants, industrial pollution, etc. These issues have caused a drastic impact on the atmosphere of the country that has given rise to many health problems in the country which has even increased the death rates. The evolution of industries in the country has changed the economic state of the country but such environmental issues have also increased the overall economic costs of the country. The research study would deal with the probable reasons that has increased such costs and would even comprise of some opinions from public and other respondents on what they feel towards the highly alarming environmental issue that is prevailing in the country. Research aims and objectives The aim of the research would be mainly on the factor of air pollution in China. There are various forms of pollution in the present scenario of the region however this research study would be focused on delivering the probable aspects that leads to air pollution in this region and what are the consequences that results due to such pollution. The aim of the research sets the platform on basis of which the entire research is formulated. The aim of a research study should be very precise as it directs the audience towards the expected outcomes for the analysis that is to be conducted in the study and even helps to develop a foundation for the research study. The aim of this research study is to identify the reasons behind air pollution, its effects, analyze opinions of respondents and to determine the possible measures that are taken by Government of China so as to reduce the levels of air pollution in the region. The objectives of a research study are formulated on the basis of the aim of the research. The research objectives are: To determine the major factors that causes air pollution in China To identify the affects that is caused by such an environmental issue To analyze the measures that has been taken by government to encounter such air pollution To determine the future impacts that can be caused with an increase in the level of air pollution in the country These objectives form the base for the entire research study to be conducted. Scope of Research One of the biggest and most crucial environmental problems in the world is air pollution. China is also one of the suffering countries from it. There are many scopes for air pollution in China. One of the main scopes for air pollution in China is the number of vehicle in the country which is increasing day by day. Now the Government will take some steps to reduce this increasing number. Government is planning to remove more than six million vehicles from the country and trying to decommissioned more than three lakh vehicles especially from the capital Beijing. Industrial development is another reason behind it. China is currently playing a vital role in the context of world’s economic growth. At the same time urban population is also increasing day by day. As a result the cities have been expanded, power and energy consumption have been increased. These all are become reasons for air pollution in this country. Increasing plastic factory is another key point for this result. Major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Shantou, Shenzhen, Tianjin etc are suffering from this problem since last six years. The health of the people is also affected by it. The air consist more percentage of CO2, carbon monoxide, photochemical smog, NOx etc. than the earlier days. As per World Bank’s record we can get total 20 cities which are most polluted in the world. Among them 16 countries are situated in China. China Government promised to tackle the problem and trying to reduce the pollution in next five years (National Academy of Engineering 1 123). Research Questions The research problem for this particular study is the increasing levels of air pollution in China. The research questions for a study are essential for the analysis section and these questions need to be answered by the researcher during the course of the study. The thesis statement for this study is – “what are the major factors that cause increased level of air pollution in China, the possible measures being opted for by the government and what are the future consequences that may result due to increase in levels of air pollution if it is not being controlled?” This research question states the major elements that would be dealt with in the study. The major concern of the entire research study is to find out the various factors that cause such an environmental issue and even to make the audience aware of the drastic impact that industrialization can cause on the environment of the country. Literature Review According to Chris and Mun, China is facing several and chronic diseases caused by air pollution. It becomes a very serious problem in this country now-a-days. High percentage of sulfur di oxide is existed in the many cities of the country. This is produced mainly from transportation sector and manufacturing sector. Power plants, heavy industries most of which are situated in the urban areas are caused for this pollution. The burning of fossil fuels also one of the major causes of air pollution and responsible for global damages. It emits the green house gases and reduces the firmness of controls on air pollution According to Dicky and Antonio (2008), so many diseases were found in China due to air pollution and dust storm. These diseases include coughing, shortness of breath, running nose, dust allergy, sputum, sneezing, throat irritation, tears, chest tightness and other chest related problems. Mostly affected age group is between 8 to 15 years or we can say school going children. There were also cardiovascular symptoms among children who are living more polluted areas than the people living less polluted areas. People are also affected by the respiratory illness such as phlegm, phlegm without cold, cough without cold, bronchitis, asthma, cough etc. Passive smoking, coal burning, room heating in winter season, cooking fumes are also another some reasons of this air pollution. The critical Bronchitis arises from coal burning and room heating activities. According to Dockery and Arden (2014), experts are unable to measure the loss amount which is facing by china due to air pollution in the environment. The health of urban population is decreased day by day due to this worst air quality. Zhu Rongji [Former Prime minister 1999] stated that they family has been living in Beijing so his life span has been reduced by 5 years at least for this air pollution. So it becomes a risk for health to live in this city. It will hamper the work of the country as well as economic growth of the nation. Since last couple of decades quality of air is healthy in US and Europe. It causes better life expectancy. Some developing countries ignore the air pollution control procedure and concentrate only on economic development. The Government of China is now going to publish real time measurements of air quality in major and big cities in the country. Government is concerned about it because poor air quality is not only harmful for health but it is also harmful for economic growth. People of the country reported in blogs that they are not able to see their hands due to heavy smog and this situation arises mostly northern part of the country. Winter air pollution is a very common event in the north of China. London faced the same situation that is the great smog in 1952 and more than 4000 deaths were occurred at that point of time. In China the number of death could be more than 12000. Air pollution has been increased by 55% than the normal level in northern parts of the country. As per expert’s report, life expectations of each people has been reduced by 5 ½ years due to this pollution (Dockery, and Arden 49). As per the Global Burden of Disease analyses were published in The Lancet [December, 2012], among the leading risks for loss of life expectancies, outdoor air pollution was ranked in 4th position in China and indoor air pollution ranked in 5th place which consists burning solid fuels, cooking, heating etc. According to Dockery and Arden (2014), it is quite impossible to measure the costs of health or losses of life. So it can be stated that many developing countries like China currently faces uncountable losses due to air pollution. Masks and other breathing protections are not sufficient to protect people from this kind of pollutions. But air conditioning system at home and office has some benefits in this regard. The normal filters in these air conditioning machines help to remove gaseous pollutants like sulfur dioxide, ozone, nitrogen oxides, other harmful gases and airborne particles. According to Wang and Mauzerall (2005), understanding the relationship among technology, energy consumption, air pollution and other related environmental impacts is very much necessary to make and evaluate effective pollution control systems. This is lacking in China’s present decision making policies. A research was done by using a city which is known by Zaozhuang. This city is situated in eastern China and it is heavily dependent on coal. This research work showed by implementing Best Available Emission Control technology and Advanced Coal Gasification technology, public health will be benefited (Wang and Mauzerall 18). Air pollution can b considered to be one of the most important environmental concern that prevails in China. According to World Bank (2000), the cities in China are so heavily polluted that the AQI level or air quality index exceeds the range of 500 and has even broken the record of 1000 which is highly dangerous as AQI level of a region that is higher than 150 is considered to be very unhealthy and that above 300 is termed to hazardous both for the region as well as the people. The major reason behind the air pollution aspect of China is the presence of its heavy industries and even because of high traffic. According to Pluschke (2004), the situation in winters is more hazardous as the maximum portion of the region is heated up by generating heat through burning of coal that leads to more air pollution (Pluschke 106). This in turn gives rise to huge amounts of airborne particles that remains suspended in the air in the winters due to precipitation and wind prevailing in the atmosphere is low. For instance this scenario is not true in case of Beijing as the location is such that it is surrounded by mountains from all the sides and this serves as a measure to trap large quantities of particles that causes air pollution (National Academy of Engineering 59). According to Jorgenson, Di and Ho (2002), there are a lot of impact on the health of people due to such air pollution. As per the analyses of Global Burden of Disease, 2012, the extensive rate of air pollution has led to death of 1.2 million premature children and about 25 million people in the group of aged population in the region (Innes 67). The outdoor air pollution that prevails in China has been ranked fourth as per the study which has led to major risk of life expectancy loss and that of indoor pollution that results mainly due to burning of solid fuels that is used for cooking is ranked to be fifth as per the study. According to Feng (1999), there is large number of emissions that comprise of both primary as well as secondary pollutants that causes chronic diseases and also increases impact on the mortality and morbidity rate. This air pollutant also has an impact on forests, crops, materials, visibility and even on ecosystem and even such a factor causes some impact on the countries that is located in its neighborhood. There is also an increased emission of GHGs and an increased cost factor due to certain climate changes that is caused in the economy due to pollution levels (Feng 133). As per Feng’s study the major air pollutant that causes serious health damages in China is large quantities of SO2 emission from the industrial plants. Research Methodology Research methodology denotes the process in which the entire study would be conducted. There are different approaches that can be used in a research process that can be incorporated as per the need of the research study. The major aim of this research study is to analyze as what are the major factor that contributes towards air pollution and the probable consequences that can result due to such environmental issues (Salkind 45). The methodology to be used would be both quantitative as well as qualitative. The qualitative research study outlines a descriptive nature of data collected. This is based more on unstructured interviews and cannot be generalized for the entire population (Corbin 144). On the contrary the quantitative research deals with objective nature of study and based on structured interviews, survey, etc. The data obtained through such study is considered to be more realistic as it is supported by statistical tools and so can be further generalized. Both the methods are used in this particular study incorporating primary and secondary data collection techniques (Kuada 105). The primary data collection would be based on a survey that would be conducted in Hong Kong with a sample size of 100 respondents. The method used for sampling would be convenient sampling method. The confidence level for the study would be 95% with a confidence interval of 5%. The other primary data collection technique is through focus group study that would comprise of two groups with three persons and the topic for the study would be to analyze whether government has taken active measure towards air pollution control and the possible health consequences due to such pollution in the nearby future. The secondary source of data collection is through journal, books, and any other material that consist any previous research that is done on this particular topic. Data Analysis and Interpretation The focus group study that is conducted for the study mainly consisted of the fact that is the future consequences of the increasing levels of air pollution on the health of the population in China. The study revealed the results that Group A stated that government in the recent years are adopting measures to control air pollution by imposing environmental laws and regulations on industries and even implements strict actions against those firms that are not following such rules in their business operation. However Group B in the focus group study stated that government is more concerned about industrialization so as to develop a better economy and do not adopts any such measures that would be helpful for the entire population. The contrast in their opinions states that certain section of the society are satisfied with the initiatives that government is undertaking to control pollution whereas the other group is not at all in favor of the higher authority and feels that more needs to be done so as to control death rates and even health damages that caused through such high levels of air pollution. The second aspect that was put forward for discussion is to understand the probable health consequences that the groups feel would result in the future. Both the groups feel that such high levels of air pollution would result into massive respiratory diseases such as bronchitis, asthma, chronic cough, visibility problems, more of premature deaths, allergic rhinitis etc. The groups feel that air pollution causes hazardous diseases as especially in case of China it needs to be controlled immediately. The questionnaire that is designed comprises of five questions and is aligned with the research objectives of the study. The first question is to analyze the opinion of the respondents as to what they feel about the level of air pollution in the country. The data collected is depicted in the form of a chart as stated below- The chart states that majority of the populatin that is 70% of the respondents feel that level of air pollution that is prevailing across regions in China is very high. This result states that it is matter of concern for the majority section of population though some feel that level of air pollution has reduced to medium level across the years and constitutes 13% of the sample size that is taken for survey. The second question is to analyze the opinion of respodents as what they feek towards the measures taken by government to handle air pollution or if any measures are at all undertaken. The data collected is analyzed throug a chart given below- 68% of the total respondents feel that there are no such effective measures undertaken by the government in order to deal with air pollution however 32% of the respondents feel that government recently has undertaken various measures to implement policies etc so as to control pollution that is caused by heavy industries. This states that government needs to undertake more strict and effective measures in order to reduce the consequences that is caused through air pollution. The next question is to analyze what are the major contributing factors towards the air pollution in the region. The chart given below is a reflection of the analysis of the data collected- 52% of the respondents state that outdoor pollution such as emissions from industries; active smoking is the major elements that contribute towards the air pollution. On the contrary there are 28% of the respondents who states that indoor pollution is the main cause of air pollution and such factor comprise of solid fuel burning, burning of coal, etc. 20% of the respondents denotes that both are the causes behind extensive levels of air pollution in China. Thus it can be stated that both the factors contribute equally towards the increased level of air pollution in which the percentage of outdoor pollution is more in comparison to indoor pollution. The next question is to analyze to what extent the respondents agree or disagree that health issues have increased over the years. The data collected is analyzed in the chart below- Majority of the respondents believes that health issues have increased over the years in China. This is a matter of concern as it also indicates that the death rate has also increased due to such pollution. There is a certain percentage of the respondents who believe that there is no such increase in health issues. The next question is to analyze the opinion of respondents as what they feel about industrialization being the root cause of air pollution. The analysis is conducted through a chart as given below- 59% of the respondents feel that industrialization is the major factor behind such air pollution however 41% thinks that there are other elements such as indoor pollutants that contributes towards the air pollution. Thus the major concern of the higher authority should not only be towards heavy industries but also towards such indoor elements as both the elements overall constitutes the increased levels of air pollution in China. Conclusion Air pollution has become a major issue of concern in China as it causes environmental damage and more importantly causes health issues that have even increased the percentage of death rate across all the regions in China. This research study clearly states that air pollution levels are continuously increasing in China and the main cause behind this issue is not industrialization though it forms a major contributing factor but it also comprise of certain indoor air pollutants that needs to be controlled. The research study has even highlighted that majority of the respondents feel that health damages has increased over the years because of pollution and it would cause further health damages in the future. The people living in Hong Kong also feels that government are not taking active measures to control the pollution factor though it has adopted certain measures in respect of environmental concern but such policies have not proved to be very affective in the present scenario. The percentage of increase of health damages poses serious challenge to the government to adopt measures to counteract not only the pollutants that are discharged by industries and also through indoor activities that contributes towards large amounts of emissions in the environment. Works Cited Corbin, Strauss. Basics of Qualitative Research. USA: SAGE. 2008. Print. Dockery, Douglas W. and C. Arden Pope III. Lost life expectancy due to air pollution in China. Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA. 35(3). 2014. Print. Feng. Therese., Controlling Air Pollution in China: Risk Valuation and the Definition of Environmental Policy. Michigan : Edward Elgar Pub. 2000. Print. Innes. John., Air Pollution and Rapidly Industrializing Regions. Austria : CABI. 2000. Print. Kuada. John., Research Methodology: A Project Guide for University Students. UK : Samfundslitteratur. 2012. Print. National Academy of Engineering 1, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Engineering. Energy Futures and Urban Air Pollution. Washington: National Academies Press. 2000. Print. National Academy of Engineering. Urbanization, Energy, and Air Pollution in China: The Challenges Ahead. USA : National Academies Press. 2005. Print. Pluschke. Peter., Indoor Air Pollution. New York : Springer. 2004. Print. Salkind. Neil., Encyclopedia of Research Design. USA : SAGE. 2010. Print. Wang, Xiaoping and Denise L. Mauzerall. Evaluating impacts of air pollution in China on public health: Implications for future air pollution and energy policies. Science, Technology and Environmental Policy program, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, Princeton, MA 16(3). 2005. Print. Appendices Questionnaire 1. What do you think about the air pollution level in China Low High Medium No comments 2. According to you is Government taking active measures to handle such an environmental issue? Yes No 3. What do you feel is contributing the most towards air pollution in China? Indoor pollution Outdoor pollution Both 4. What is your opinion about the statement – “Health issues has increased over the years in China”. Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree 5. Do you feel that industrialization is the major reason behind the increased levels of air pollution? Yes No Read More