The different factors and effects of Air Pollution policies between China and UK - Essay Example

According to Gurjar, Molina and Ojha, air polluting emissions “occur at many stages in the life cycles of products and services, that is, from raw material extraction, energy acquisition, production and manufacturing, use, reuse, recycling, through to ultimate disposal” (1). After being released, the emissions go through different chemical and physical changes leading to a variety of impacts on the environment and health of living things. In recent years, air pollution has caused harmful effects to human life.

It has been realized that incidences of chronic illnesses have been constantly rising; the incidences and seriousness of acute illnesses have also increased, as well as mortality rates. Together with the health effects institute, Bates and Kennedy assert that “when air pollution began to have a significant deleterious effect on human life , it became necessary to discover and understand the links between emission sources and the air quality deterioration and health effects they cause” (162).

Currently, environmental social movement groups such as Greenpeace and Amnesty international are playing a significant role in influencing negotiations over environmental protection and management of oceans, the ozone layer, and nuclear deployments. In addition to that, they aid in enforcing national compliance with international mandates (Goodwin and Jasper 227). Scientist’s currently consider climate change, which is caused by air pollution as one of the most serious problems the world faces.

Furthermore, the entire globe is also faced by the looming grave threat of global warming, which is a serious environmental security issue. In fact, climate change has a major impact on all aspects of human social and economic life (Yu 37). China’s Environmental History The environmental history of China is quite unique compared to that of other nations. Apart from being “one of the largest and most climatically diverse countries on the planet” (Leibo 52), its population has been historically larger than that of other societies around the world.

This “has seen Chinese territory significantly more impacted by human activity than the usual situation elsewhere” (Leibo 52). China was also among the most biologically diverse and affluent places on earth four thousand years ago. Ironically, the very rich biodiversity in China was the main explanation it has supported one-third of the human population at any given time. Initially, the effects of the large population on China’s environment were insignificant. However, with the subsequent spread and development of agriculture and clearance of farmland, the impact of the human population on the environment has become perceptible.

The twentieth century has also been marked with the emergence of a consumer culture coupled with rapid industrialization. This has resulted in the rapid ecological degradation in China. Five Year Plan (1953-1957) and the Great Leap Forward (1958-1960) The five year (1953-1957) soviet inspired plan was adopted during the Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong’s era (Marks 273). This was due to his dissatisfaction with the Soviet model, because he concluded that it would lead the People’s Republic of China away from realizing their dream of attaining a socialist country.

He instead adopted a ‘Maoist’ path, fast industrialization of a socialist China, with rapidly collectivized agriculture spearheading the