Problem of Air Pollution in Beijing - Essay Example

air pollution in beijing’ al Affiliation) air pollution in beijing’ The widespread concern caused by the frequent climate change is because of the fast urbanization that the city of Beijing encountered since the 1990s (Friedrich, 2011). Air pollution causes a major problem in this city, with health hazards attached to the continuous production of industrial effluents into the Beijing air. In accordance with the Beijing Medical Centre for Disease Control, between the 14th and 20th of January 2013, not less than 770,000 cases of physical discomfort were reported, with approximately half of that number having diseases related to respiratory cases (Chen, 2013). In the urbanization of Beijing, just like in many global urbanized cities, the city’s scale expands gradually leading to ultimate expansion of the population. Besides, the population growth in Beijing further leads to increased traffic congestions, pollution of the environment as well as the up rise in urban diseases. The Beijing Bureau of Statistics reports that the population of the city grows at a massive 600,000 per year, with the population as at 2012 being 19,720,000 (Reid, 2008). These large numbers of people require plenty of resources, translating to the production of atmospheric pollutants in the process of daily consumption of energy. Consequently, Beijing City consumes electricity, gas, natural gas and coal. Burning of coal, especially, produces emissions that pollute the air, as its components are carbon monoxide, methane and hydrogen (Haerens, 2011). The increase in the population also influences the growth in the number of automobiles that these populations use to commute. Despite the fact that the government is putting in place a raft of measures that aim to control the rate at which the city is expanding, the number of automobiles in the city continues to expand. Interestingly, in 2010, Beijing had roughly 5,017,000 automobile units, with the exhaust emissions from automobiles contributing to approximately fifty percent of the air pollution (Chen, 2013). The expansion of Beijing, nevertheless, has encroached on the agricultural land since the 1990s. This land is reducing tremendously, as in 2007 the cultivated land in a section of Beijing called Haidin District was 2,787 hectares. This is in contrast to the 12,600 hectares that the region reserved for cultivation in the year 1978. This trend explains why a large size of agricultural land is consumed in the development of residential areas, for commercial and industrial use. The main role of agriculture is to conserve soil and water, with purification of the air and sand fixing (Haerens, 2011). Nonetheless, the government maintains the natural vegetation that often prevents the city from sand and wind. The 2008 Beijing Olympics challenged the city to adopt a series of measures that could enable the visiting fanatics of the Olympic games to enjoy quality air (Friedrich, 2011). This prompted the government to rearrange the industrial structure, with the Beijing cork plant transferred to Tangshan in 2007, while the Shougang moved to Eastem Hebei from the year 2005. Such measures are an advantage in the push against air pollution, but that did not last. The immediate completion of these games instigated the return and growth of other industries and companies surrounding the city. The government recorded an improvement of the air quality by 30% before the Beijing Olympic Games. However, 60% of these advancements disappeared the year after the games. In the fourth quarter of 2012, the industrial emissions into the atmosphere escalated with the city strategically placed close to the coal producing regions of Shanxi Province and Inner Mongolia. The city, furthermore, is in the middle of a terrain that does not give room for the easy spread of the polluted air, as Yanshan and Taihnag Mountains surround it. These mountains make it difficult for the polluted air to diffuse into other regions, making the city the main victim of its urbanization campaigns. The pollution of air involves the release of particulates and chemicals into the atmosphere. Besides, the biological materials and other secondary pollutants are contributors to air pollution to some extent (Friedrich, 2011). In the process of industrialization and urbanization, people release various discharges into the atmosphere, and these activities pose alarming threats to the survival of humankind. In 1952, the London Smog event registered an historic harm to human health. The major reason for this was the excessive use of coal by the households to maintain the warmth. The effluents that contain carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, gas, dust and sulphur dioxide are released into the air (Reid, 2008). The January 2013 events of haze and fog over Beijing air space are reminiscent of the London Smog event. According to the results of the Environmental Protection Department, the PM2.5 levels in Beijing were normally higher than the ordinary (Zhang and Cao, 2015). PM2.5 causes ventilation malfunctions hence creating lung problems, which exposes risks to certain lung disease such as bronchitis, bronchial asthma and emphysema. Besides, this PM2.5 is a recipe for widespread chronic diseases including diabetes and hypertension (Zhang and Cao, 2015). The government of China has failed in the supervision of the environment management. The state has in place several environmental protection and conservation laws that entail to the increased involvement of investors in the Chinese Industrial process (Berlatsky, 2010). This is a step forward in legislation of regulations; however, the lack of supervision on the implementation of these regulations poses a key challenge that Beijing faces in air pollution. Certain local governments infringed on these regulations by licensing companies that consume very high energy amounts but have short-term economic benefits (Tao, 2014). Some constraints being funded by the governments make it difficult for the environmental protection agencies to regulate the sources of pollution, hence creating inefficiencies in the operation of these agencies. Besides, the investments made by the local governments are inadequate to match the rapid industrialization pollution threats. These investments were focused mainly on curbing the industrial environmental pollution. This is in ignorance of the need to establish adequate constructions for environmental infrastructure. The investments did not include the renovation of the regional environmental departments, nor did it include the construction of the department of environmental management (Tao, 2014). The proportion of the increase in urbanization and industrialization exceeds the investments of the Beijing government towards the environmental preservation. The solutions that lie in the prevention of air pollution begin with funding the environmental management departments. The difficulties associated with the control of air pollution keep escalating. These problems however need adequate funding to enact and implement the Beijing Clean Air Action Plan of 2013. The regulations should obligate the residents, industries and visitors to increase the transformation towards the use of clean energy. The use of natural gas presents less health and environmental hazards as compared to the use of coal for cooking and heating purpose. The natural gas produces less poisonous effluents into the atmosphere. In addition to that, the government should run a campaign to eliminate old vehicles that have high emissions of smoke into the atmosphere. This process begun earlier, though, with the government registering an impressive elimination of over 90,000 units of old vehicles form the Beijing city (Chen, 2013). This program goes a long way in reducing the carbon emissions into the air, hence encouraging the conservation processes of the city’s environment. In addition to that, the government should put in place mechanisms that discourage the purchase of more automobile units. Such regulations as the Vehicle Miles Travelled Tax would discourage the use of private vehicles over long distances. There should be in place heavy taxes on fuel consumption to discourage the use of fuel that releases emissions into the atmosphere. The government should strive to establish environmental protection departments that are legally independent. These departments should receive regular funding from the Beijing government and use this independence to enact the strict laws to govern the pollution of the environment. Previously, the local governments hindered the operations of these departments, hence leading to massive pollution of the atmosphere as experienced in January 2013 (Berlatsky, 2010). Nonetheless, with the executive power to implement their authority independently, these departments will have legal backings in the court systems to sue entities that go against the stipulated code of conduct. Moreover, the government should eliminate corruption in these departments. Corruption is a major cause of managerial bureaucracy in most government departments. The move by the government to punish corrupt environmental officers will help in eliminating inefficiency in dealing with cases involving environmental degradation. These departments should also carry campaigns that encourage the growth of more vegetation within and around the city, punish the violators of the dust pollution control (Tao, 2014). In conclusion, the challenges that China faces in the process of industrialization affect the comfort of the citizens living in this vast country. Beijing is a pioneer city in the international development framework, and the successful abolishment of the pollution menace will further attract more investors into the country. In addition to that, the government should decentralize the industrialization process into other cities around China in order to implement the environmental conservation plan with equality, effectiveness and ease (Berlatsky, 2010). It is however notable that the economic stability of this region is dependent on the ability of the authorities to sustain the environment and provide health living standards for the entire Beijing population. References Berlatsky, N. 2010. China. Detroit, MI: Greenhaven Press/Gale, Cengage Learning. Chen, Y. 2013. Gaming in air pollution data?. Cambridge, Mass.: National Bureau of Economic Research. Friedrich, M. 2011. Air Pollution in China. JAMA, 305(11), p.1085. Haerens, M. 2011. Air pollution. Detroit: Greenhaven Press/Gale Cengage Learning. Reid, T. 2008. Air pollution: Poisoning the poor. Nature China. Tao, X. 2014. Problems of air pollution prevention in key regions of China. Sci. China Life Sci., 57(3), pp.356-357. Zhang, Y. and Cao, F. 2015. Is it time to tackle PM2.5 air pollutions in China from biomass-burning emissions?. Environmental Pollution, 202, pp.217-219. Read More