China's Air Pollution - Term Paper Example

?China's Air pollution Table of Contents Introduction 3 The Economic reform 4 Environmental Kuznets Curves (EKC) 6 Three main air pollutants 6 Analysis 7 Health issue 7 Economic 8 Acid Rain 9 ‘Beijing Olympic’ problem 9 Environmental Kuznets Curves 10 Role of Social and political organizations 12 Future improvement 13 Conclusion 14 Works cited 15 Name of the student Name of the professor Course number Date China's Air pollution Introduction China is one of the rapidly developing countries in the world. Annual growth rate of the country has expanded since the second quarter of 2012. At present the growth rate of China is 7.5 percent, which is quite high compared to the growth rates of the developed economies in the world in the post recession times (“China GDP Annual Growth Rate”). In this situation, China is faced with a major debate. The country is one of the highest contributors of environmental pollution; particularly the air. The air is an important part of human life and it is an established belief that the microscopic particles that people inhale while breathing can potentially cause serious damage to their health. The amount of damage is dependent on the level of concentration of pollutants in the air. These pollutants are emitted in to the environment through various industrial and economic activities, which in turn increases the concentration level of pollutants in the air. There are a number of factors that affect the relationship between emission of pollutants and their concentration in the air. However, it is a commonly agreed notion that the emissions are an outcome of increased level of industrial activities in the economy, or in other words, the level of development activities that take place in the economy (Matus, et al., “Health Damages from Air Pollution in China”). Among the factors affecting the level of pollution in the air, site is very important. Certain places are the key source of emission; such as the center of the cities, and exclusive industrial belts. These areas are most populous; increased proximity to these regions affects meteorological conditions more than the other areas in the country, which in turn determines the extent of environmental damage. Secondly, the characteristics of the source such as the emission temperature and the velocity of emission affect the rate at which level of air pollution increases. Thirdly, physical dimension of the pollutant particles interferes in the level of impact cast on health condition of human beings. Hence the particle size of matter is an important factor in determining air pollution in the country. Not only are the humans sufferers of this environmental condition, other animals are also adversely affected in this environmental degradation (Ho, “Air pollution in China”). The Economic reform China’s economy has been reflecting massive growth rates since the past two decades. During this period China has undergone economic reforms and is now considered one of the world’s fastest growing economies. The per capita income of the citizens in the country has been growing at the astonishing rate of 9% in 2011 (Mendez, “Chinese Economic Development and Pollution”). China has been ranked as the third largest country that take part in the international trade. It comes immediately after United States of America and Japan. This economic reform in the country is the main reason that has pushed China to the position in the international sphere. Increasing importance of the economy in world trade has transformed the economy into a global powerhouse. There has been emergence of new factories and overall rate of productive activities in the country has rocketed. These industries obtain their primary supply of energy from the reserves of coal possessed by China. Energy is produced by burning this coal, which emits huge amount of carbon particles in the air. This implies that urbanization and development of the Chinese economy has also led it on the path of making significant contribution towards degradation of the environment. Also wastes dumped by the factories are affecting the environment. It is polluting the air, soil as well as water. The impacts of becoming a globally noticeable power house for economic growth have spilled in excess of the capability of the Chinese economy to manage these impacts efficiently. The economy has not been successful in managing these impacts, due to which the positive effects of industrial growth have not been able to balance the negative effects of development. The net effect is that the environment is being degraded. Currently, there is rising concern over the problem of air pollution in China that is affecting normal daily life of its people. The quality of air in most of the towns in China, particularly in the capital city, Beijing, has been found to be unfit for breathing. The air has been accused for causing diseases among the residents of the region. Environmental issues related to China have been bothering environmentalist for quite some time now, but, currently these issues are causing concerns amongst economists and policy makers both at the domestic and international level. According to the World Bank, 16 out of 20 most polluted cities in the world are located in China. The New York Times has reported that only 1 percent of the total population of China (consisting of 560 million citizens) is able to inhale fresh air according to the quality standards set in the European Union (Kahn and Yardley, “As China Roars, Pollution Reaches Deadly Extremes”). The air has become so polluted due to the emissions of pollutants in the air that, it has become unfit for children’s breathing hazardous for children (Manning, “Is China Choking on Success?”). Scholars opine that pollution level in the air has increased so rapidly that the breathing this air is equal to smoking 20 cigarettes per day (“Household Energy, Indoor Air Pollution and Health”). Environmental Kuznets Curves (EKC) Environmental Kuznets Curves represents a statistical tool that helps the researcher to study the important aspects of human behavior. This curve represents the hypothesis that as development takes place in a country; a natural cycle runs within the economy driven by market forces that causes economic inequality to rise in the society in the first few years of development. After the economy reaches the level of stable average income, income inequality falls. At present China is in the rising stage of the EKC (Xue 16). Therefore, it is still making high contribution to environmental degradation. Three main air pollutants There are a number of air pollutants that affect the environment. There most important types of air pollutants are Lead (Pb), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) and Carbon Monoxide (CO) (“Table of Main Air Pollutants”). Lead Fuels used for motor vehicles have lead additives. Combustion of fuels for running vehicles emits particles of lead through smoke. In China this problem is gaining enormous importance. Lead smelting also releases lead particles in the atmosphere. There are also other sources of lead such as, waste incineration systems in factories. Renovation of houses involves painting the walls and these paints mostly contain lead content. Recently unleaded fuels are being introduced into the market by companies, due to which there is reduction in the level of lead pollution occurring from smoke emissions from vehicles. Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) Nitrogen dioxide is another important element in the atmosphere that contributes to air pollution. Any processes of combustion of fuel releases nitrogen dioxide in to the air. Smoke emitted from motor vehicles contains the largest amount of this gas. Carbon Monoxide (CO) Another most important element causing pollution in the atmosphere is carbon monoxide. This gas is released through the process of burning any type of fossil fuel (such as oil and coal) and wood. Therefore, a major portion of daily human activities like burning wood for cooking to burning fuel for running motor vehicles, release carbon monoxide in the air. Processes of waste incineration and other industrial processes emit high levels of this gas. Analysis Health issue Air pollution causes various health problems. Some of the pollutants, such as, nitrogen dioxide, lead particles and carbon monoxide have been found to cause maximum harm to human life. Nitrogen dioxide causes problems in the lung that gives rise to respiratory diseases. Sometimes, diseases such as asthma become fatal and in turn mortality rate in the country rises. Lead causes maximum effect on humans during the growing years. In china problem of lung and heart disease has increased significantly owing to the lead particles emitted by vehicles. Effect of lead inhaled is significantly affecting development of the nervous system and impair functioning of the brain among children. Other organs of the body are also affected by lead. Skin diseases are also being reported. Carbon monoxide is fatal if inhaled in large amount. It mixes with the blood and cuts of the supply of oxygen to the tissues. The extent of disease caused due to this effect depends on the level of exposure to carbon monoxide (“Table of Main Air Pollutants”). Economic The extent of the environmental problem in China has reached a level when the government has been left with no other choice but to respond immediately and take initiatives to clean up the air. However, it has been revealed through research that the “economics of environmental cleanup” (“The Economics of China's Pollution Problem”) is not very transparent. Experts opine that implementation of policy that would be able to make significant changes in the environmental conditions would require shifts in the economy’s industries. Essentially, this would require to slowdown the GDP growth of the economy, since the fundamental reason behind this environmental problem is the high range developmental activities in the economy. Some of the industries in the economy would therefore suffer. It is not feasible to identify which industries are primarily responsible for the pollution. Therefore manufacturing industries as a whole suffers. It is not easy to statically account for the environmental costs. Hence the economic losses occurring due to pollution or the cost of cleanup has not been measured. At present, the Chinese government spends approximately US$91 billion per year for environmental protection. This amounts to almost 1.3 percent of China’s GDP. There is need for further rise in this expenditure and experts consider a rise of upto 4 percent of the GDP is necessary (“The Economics of China's Pollution Problem”). Acid Rain China is facing some of the major environmental and sustainability problem as the side effect of development. Due to extensive industrials activities, chemical compounds such as, nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide are ejected from the industries into the air. These substances react with the water and oxygen present in the atmosphere and pour down in the form of a highly corrosive liquid, known as the acid rain. According to statistical reports, acid rain is occurring in 258 cities in the country damaging scenic beauty and also causing hazardous diseases (“Acid rains make life hard in 258 Chinese cities”). In the first two quarters of 2010, every rain drop in Beijing was found to be acidic; with a pH level of less than 5.6 (while 7 is the neutral mark) (“Acid rains make life hard in 258 Chinese cities”). ‘Beijing Olympic’ problem The problem of air pollution in China has been a prevalent problem and it had also raised concerns among the organizers of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Some observers opined that the media had overstated the problem of pollution that had increased fear of health hazard among the international participants. Due to this strict measures had been followed to keep the level of pollution under control in the center of the country. In August and September in 2008, when the Olympics and the Paralympics were hosted, the Chinese government had made extraordinary and aggressive efforts to improve the quality of air in the city. This measures curtailed traffic and also reduce vehicle emissions significantly. Roads were sprayed with water to reduce dust. After the Games were over, these restrictions were relaxed. However, the positive results were visible when the government officials measured the levels of pollutants in the air. From the period immediately preceding the Games and the period immediately after the Games there was “60 percent reduction in sulfur dioxide, a 48 percent reduction in carbon monoxide, and a 43 percent reduction in nitrogen dioxide” (“Beijing Olympics Provides Rare Window into Air Pollution’s Effect on Health”) Environmental Kuznets Curves The curve is drawn in a two-dimensional space that explains the collective interest of the society in making a trade of between per capita income and inequality in the country. The curve shows the specific measurement of the changes that are taking place in the quality of environment while the nation develops and the level of per capita income of the community increases (Yandle, “Environmental Kuznets Curves”). In the past two decades, China has been reflecting huge growth in per capita GDP. This growth has been based on the fact that in the initial years “polarization” has occurred in the Chinese economy. The process of development has not been holistic, but, there has been the problem of rising income inequality in the economy. This inequality is visible particularly between the highly urbanized localities of the capital city of China and the surrounding suburban and rural areas. There is a rising middle class that has high purchasing power while the poor and economically backward class resides in the rural areas of the century. The people in the urban areas exploit this opportunity have exploited the process of economic growth to increase their income and level of asset possession. According to experts, as the economy would mature, progressive government policies would make the benefits of growth to reach all the sectors of the economy, thereby causing the ‘trickle-down effect’ of growth to reach the low income class of the economy. This would decrease the inequality level in the economy (Xue 16). The Kuznets curve makes an analysis of the long term development of the economy. However, economists are of the view that the economy of China is young, due to which time series data is not available in enough quantity so as to facilitate extensive statistical analysis. Figure 1: China’s Kuznet’s curve (Source: Xue 16) Due to this the Kuznets’s curve depicted in the figure has not achieved the full U shape. It implies that the curve has not yet reached the peak. Hence experts anticipate that there is further scope of development in the economy, causing higher levels of industrial activities. As the country would approach the peak of Kuznets’s curve, income disparities might get worse. Further down the lane there would be gradual decrease in inequality as the country would reach maturity stage. This has a strong implication for the environmentalists. Along with economic progression, the country is suspected to make greater contribution to environmental degradation. The EKC hypothesis puts forth that there exists an inverted U-shape relation between per capita income and environmental degradation. Figure 2: Environmental Kuznets Curve in China (Source: Shaw, “Will Emerging Economies Repeat the Environmental Mistakes of their Rich Cousins?”) Empirical studies made in the past using panel data at cross province level shows that air and water pollutants are the chief components that contribute to the characteristics of the EKC. As the effect of growth would influence all the strata of the society, environmental degradation would be significantly reduced (Shen and Hashimoto, “Environmental Kuznets Curve on Country Level”). Role of Social and political organizations Air pollution has become of the most important agenda in the political realm of China. The government has vowed to cut down the “intensity of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP in 2020 by 40 to 45 per cent, compared with 2005 levels” (“Acid rains make life hard in 258 Chinese cities”). According to Chinese officials, the government is pursuing its goal aggressively by making strict laws and environmental protection policies. Not only is the government making laws for the society to follow to reduce emission of harmful pollutants in the air, but it is also interested in increasing the involvement of the members from the different sections of the society in this process of environmental preservation. In China, although the Communist Party rules with an authoritarian establishment, in reality, politics is highly decentralized in the country. The provinces in China often ignore the policies that have been implemented by the Central government. Although this has its disadvantages, one important benefit is that the provinces are powered to take their own measures according to the intensity of the problem and also invite the important stakeholders to take part in the decision making process. The government takes necessary advice on safe and sustainable standards of fuel consumption from the large corporations since these are the primary contributors of harmful elements to the air. This is aimed at reaching a pollution control target that is achievable by these companies. However, since these companies run with cost minimization motives they are often in conflict with the government regarding stringent quality control on fuel combustion. While, regulation on fuel consumption requires rise in fuel prices, business firms want to maintain a low cost of production (Langfitt, “China's Air Pollution: Is The Government Willing To Act?”). Thus it creates a political gridlock between the government and the society. Future improvement Studying the problems of China’s environmental problem few issues can be identified as most important for the economy to reduce pollution. These are reducing the level of emission of polluting elements in the economy and reducing the level of fossil fuel consumption (Huang, et al 5927). This can possibly be achieved by reducing traffic effectively by inducing people to use more public transport than private transport facilities, installing technologically better machineries that would make lesser consumption of fuel and other inputs for higher levels of production and also introducing environment friendly technology for cars in the market that can be availed by the average customer. Conclusion This paper presents a detailed discussion on the situation of air pollution in China. Air pollution in China has become one of the most important topics of discussion at the economic as well as political spheres in the country (Wang and Mauzerall, “Evaluating impacts of air pollution in China on public health: Implications for future air pollution and energy policies”). It is established from this study that the initial step to fight this problem refers to identification of the most significant sources of pollutants and the ways in which the damage is caused to health. Identification of the ways of health damage is more important than identification of sources of pollution because it would enable policy makers to realize the gravity of the problem and make relevant pollution control policies accordingly. The result of China’s development is visible in the position it is occupying in the world rankings of the economies in terms of economic growth. However, the negative effects of growth are issues related to environmental degradation, particularly air pollution in case of China, and rising health hazards. The government has to act responsibly in this situation and also involve the society tactfully in this procedure so as to initiate a holistic environmental protection program. Works cited “Acid rains make life hard in 258 Chinese cities.” NDTV. NDTV Convergence Limited, 14 Jan. 2011. Web. 25 July 2013. “Beijing Olympics Provides Rare Window into Air Pollution’s Effect on Health.” Rochester. University of Rochester Medical Center, 15 May 2012. Web. 25 July 2013. “China GDP Annual Growth Rate.” Trading Economics. Trading Economics, 15 Jul. 2013. Web. 25 July 2013. “Household Energy, Indoor Air Pollution and Health.” WHO. World Health Organization, 2013. Web. 25 July 2013. Ho, Mun S. “Air pollution in China.” 2003. PDF File. 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