Air Pollution in Beijing - Term Paper Example

Air Pollution in Beijing Serious air pollution in Beijing has turned one of the biggest cities of the world into scarcely suitable for living. And now China as the worlds second-biggest economy tries to decrease the levels of smog in Beijing which appeared as the result of many years of quick development. For the last thirty years China has been using a development-at-any-expense tactics to make its economy competitive, and this has led to serious ecological harm throughout the country. Scientists claim that the process of returning northern China to acceptable ecological condition will be very long regardless of the fact that serious measures are taken now. So unless urgent measures to reduce air pollution are taken, big ecological catastrophe threatens Beijing. The examination conducted by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences this week, positioned China`s capital on the second place in the list of the worst cities for living among 40 noteworthy urban areas around the globe. The only capital that won over Beijing was Moscow which came last mainly because of tough climatic conditions – long winters and great frosty. Earlier authorities reported before the society only in terms of financial and industrial development of the country. Security was also an important issue while ecological aspect was always neglected. Recently with appearance of the problem of serious land, water, and air pollution politicians realized that environment protection should also be taken into consideration (Wong 1). The capital`s serious contamination is much more regrettable than it is possible to imagine and the ecology standards are really far from reaching normal levels there. Shanghai Academy ecologists claim that pollution will soon reach extreme level and will make life of almost 20 million citizens of the capital intolerable (Reilly 1). However, the situation is unbearable for many Beijing residents even now as almost all citizens of Beijing seem to be experts in terms of pollution. It is hard to imagine but mobile phone application that allows measuring the level of air pollution is one of the most popular programs among citizens. Air Quality Index is an adequate tool in measuring the possibility of staying outside and performing any activities. The rating of Environmental Protection Energy differentiates between 4 levels of air pollution: 51-100 Moderate (Individuals with sensitive respiratory system and allergies have to reduce being outdoors and be careful); 101-150 Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (People with cardio and respiratory diseases, grown-ups, and small kids (especially pre-school) must reduce the time spent outdoors significantly); 151-200 Unhealthy (People with cardio and respiratory diseases, grown-ups, and small kids (especially pre-school) must avoid staying outdoors. Others should reduce this time significantly); 201-300 Very Unhealthy (People with cardio and respiratory diseases, grown-ups, and small kids (especially pre-school) must avoid staying outside and performing any activity. Other people have to keep away from activities performed outdoors; 400-500 Alarming and Hazardous for health (Beijing AQI). In Beijing this Air Quality Index reaches even 700 which makes all the people in the capital wear masks. So there is a high threat for citizens to have serious respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. The problem is that Chinese authorities have not acknowledged that the issue with air pollution is that serious until recently. And it is only external influence, when the alarming level of air pollution was disclosed by the American Embassy in Beijing last January that draw attention to that problem pushed Chinese government to search for new solutions for this problem. Last winter Chinese capital authorities started to post hourly air quality reports estimated according a worldwide standard of measuring PM2.5, or airborne particulate matter littler than 2.5 micrometers in measurement, which specialists claim represent the most disturbing risk for citizens. The achieved information demonstrates that the normal PM2.5 concentration in Beijing is twice higher the state norm, which is 35 microgrammes for every cubic meter. The capital started spreading air quality materials focused around the estimation of Pm10, however its Pm10 information has never reached the normal level and now surpasses the standard by 20 percent (Experts on Beijing Air Pollution, 2012). So the authorities were not able to ignore the problem of pollution anymore. Shortly after that one of the Information agencies of Beijing published the report that Wang Anshun, the recently elected mayor of Beijing, who said that authorities had a preparatory plan to check the level of pollution. The mayor also described the situation as worrisome and asked Beijing citizens to be more careful and make all possible to reduce the harm to their health. Nevertheless, the plan for serious ecological changes has been already approved. Beijing is not the only city in China that suffers from severe air pollution, that is why three giants Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou plan to decrease in levels of PM2.5 - the toxins most unsafe to human respiratory system and a real reason of brown haze – by 25, 20, and 15 somewhere around 2013 and 2017, as indicated by the arrangement issued by the State Council. However, the senior Beijing-based guide with the Natural Resources Defense Council, claimed that such locations as Beijing and Tianjin must target higher numbers and decrease PM2.5 by more than a quarter as they have this opportunity (Jing 1). However, it is reassuring that authorities have paid their attention to the problem, and the main causes of such a high level of pollution in Beijing were distinguished. Experts claim that big amount of vehicles, heavy coal burning in the industry districts around the city, and local construction dust cause air pollution in the city. Nevertheless, many experts have expressed their opinions of what should be done on this problem. Specialists consider that automobiles emissions are the most influential source of Beijings air contamination. More than 5 million cars are right now registered in Beijing, and the number increases fast gradually. According to the delegate leader of the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, the number of automobiles does not prevail the quantity in other big capitals, for example in Tokyo there are 10 million of vehicles. However, the average distance the car rides in Beijing is bigger than anywhere and consists 45 kilometers. The concentration of cars is not equal as most of them ride in the city center. Li Kunsheng, an official with the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau, says that the main problem with vehicles is the absence of regulations and norms for high dirty cars. The capital authorities should implement serious measures empowering high-dirtying vehicle utilization and enhancing fuel norms. Hao Jiming, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering emphasized that Beijing has to make public transportation more comfortable and affordable to people which could help to reduce a high number of private cars. Constant traffic jams provoked by big amount cause the larger part of emissions. It is also important to rearrange the areas of living and business regions to decrease the flow of vehicles on the main streets (Experts on Beijing Air Pollution, 2012). The other major reason of severe air pollution in the region is enormous industrial coal consumption. Beijing is surrounded by numerous coal processing plants, and there is minimal motivation for authorities or officials to make the manufacture there less intensive because they guarantee financial growth of the city. Li Yan, Greenpeace East Asia climate and energy campaign manager underlined that the country and the city should focus on diminishing the dependence on coal as the major source of energy and concentrate on renewable energy. These measures will be in accordance with the main energy safety plan and benefit the ecological state. While the most important is to reduce coal utilization in the major industrial regions of the country. However, the main problem with coal dependency reduction is legislation. Li Yan says that "Without specific and binding targets to reduce coal consumption … whether the regional PM2.5 reduction targets could be met still remains to be seen." The opposition between central government and local governments all having their own targets is high coal consumption. So to achieve any serious results the country major leaders must take actions (Jing 1). Experts have also warned that air pollution in Beijing cannot be eased without taking measures to curb emissions of pollutants in surrounding cities. Scientists and ecologists have additionally cautioned that air pollution in the capital cannot be reduced without elaborating a plan of how to control emissions in neighborhood urban areas. Tang Xiaoyan, a professor with Beijing-based Peking University, discovered a direct interdependence between Beijing pollution and the close-by urban areas of Taiyuan, Shijiazhuang and Hohhot state of atmosphere. Wang Yuesi, a scientist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, claimed that dangerous substantial metals revealed in atmosphere in the capital are all products of ferrous metal smelting and coal processing in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei range. It is easy to reveal that Tianjin region and Hebei area both have an expansive number of cement, steel, oil refining and petrification commercial enterprises that use more than 350 million tons of coal annual. Around 24.5 percent of the PM2.5 in Beijing originates from those enterprises (Experts on Beijing Air Pollution 1). So apart from reducing the quantity of vehicles and managing coal dependency there must be some constant control over pollution level established. Zhu Tong, a teacher with Peking University, proposed creating an experimental research information accumulation data base to examine and track the air pollution level in Beijing and close-by urban areas and territories. Additionally, an administration platform that sets regulatory limits must be created to facilitate coordination between areas. Chinese government should take into consideration the recommendations of World Health Organization of how to reduce air pollution. There are numerous methods of fruitful strategies for transport, urban area management, power supply, and manufacture that could diminish air contamination: for industry: safe advances that decrease modern smokestack emissions; better administration of urban and rural garbage, taking into account management of methane gas produced at waste locations. for transport: moving to clean modes of energy production; directing city budget resources to public transport development, arranging walking and cycling locations and tracks, moving to cleaner diesel vehicles for urban arranging: transforming city areas into more compact and energy-productive, enhancing energy efficiency of the existing city areas. for power generation: wider utilization of alternative sources of energy ( solar energy, wind energy), utilization of distributed energy generation for city waste administration: techniques for waste decrease, encouraging citizens to waste separation, recycling hard materials; utilization of biological methods for waste processing such as turning waste into biogas (Ambient Air Quality and Health, 2014). So fast economic and industrial growth of China seems to have the other side - serious ecological problems for the country. That is why Beijing, the capital, has turned into an uncomfortable place for living for more than 20 million citizens due to serious air pollution. And it is not only unbearable for citizens it is extremely dangerous for their health to breathe gas emission ad dust as it causes serious respiratory diseases. The government was ignoring the problem until it reached a critical point and now Beijing has to take urgent measures to change the situation. The experts claim that the ecological disaster in Beijing was caused by large amount of personal cars and bad system of car usage regulations, dependence on coal as the major source of energy for heavy industry around the capital, and local construction dust. It is still reassuring that authorities have approved a plan of gas emission and pollution reduction to be implemented in Beijing. Experts express their own opinions of how to solve the problem. Shifting to renewable sources of energy, regulating high-dirty vehicles, updating city public transport, rearranging city plan to reduce the traffic are mentioned as the necessary steps to be taken. It is also important to reduce the emission in nearby cities and create a platform that would help to monitor and control the level of pollution throughout the country. As the situation has reached a critical point the solution must be taken on the highest country levels because the problem is extremely serious and simple people can hardly influence it. Works Cited “Ambient Air Quality and Health”. World Health Organization. 2014. Retrieved from: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs313/en/ Beijing Quality Index. Torana Air Clear Center. Retrieved from: http://www.toranacleanair.com/BeijingAirQualityFeed.html “Experts Identify Causes of Air Pollution in Beijing”. China Org.2012. Retrieved from: http://www.china.org.cn/environment/2012-06/12/content_25624838.htm Jing, L. “China Unveils Tough Measures to Combat Air Pollution”. South China Morning Post. 2012. Retrieved from: http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1308794/china-unveils-tough-measures-combat-air-pollution Jill, R. “Air Pollution in Beijing Has Made the City Almost Uninhabitable for Human Beings according to Environmental Study”. Daily Mail. 2014. Retrieved from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2558548/Air-pollution-Beijing-city-uninhabitable-human-beings-according-environmental-study.html Wong, E. “Beijing Takes Steps to Fight the Air Pollution as the Problem Worsens”. The New York Times. 2013. Read More