Air pollution in China

Air pollution in China

             Air pollution refers to the introduction of harmful substances in the air. China being one of the highly developing countries in the world has high levels of air pollution. China has had the fastest developing economy among the major nations, which has contributed to increased air pollution.  The increased levels of air pollution have increased the rate of premature deaths, which is about 350,000 to 400,000. About 760,000 have been reported dead due to air pollution each year. China being a developing country experiences several factors leading to air pollution causing both affects on human life and environment hence the need for prevention.

Air pollution in China has increased due to the rapid increase of motor vehicles. China’s economic development has led to a rise in wealth, which has enabled individuals to buy their motor vehicles. Statistics carried out indicated that the number of vehicles on the roads has doubled with over 1200 vehicles added each day. Gas emissions from motorized vehicles contribute to nearly 70% of China’s air pollution (Rohde, 2015). Some of the harmful gases that are emitted include sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter. A study was conducted about the adverse effects of vehicles emissions, and it indicated that the impacts of vehicle emissions in China are more significant.   The latest vehicles in the market have lower emission standards hence emit more of these pollutants in the air. Motorized vehicles are just one of the several causes of air pollution. Presence of these gases in the atmosphere   leads to several environmental problems including dust haze, acid rain, and photochemical smog. Air pollution being a serious issue affecting china it is caused by several factors where toxic gas emissions from vehicles is one of them.

Population growth has increased air pollution. The population of people in China also contributed significantly to extensive air pollution mostly due to domestic emissions produced when heating and cooking are also toxic to the air (chai, 2016). China population has grown significantly in the past few years. Increased population has led to air pollution through agricultural practices, mainly because most of the agricultural practices involve the use of chemicals like pesticides, which are harmful to the environment (Guo, 2016). Due to the increased population, the rate of coal consumption is very high. According to the Haui river policy established during China’s central planning period, the policy provided homes with free coal for winter for heating. The policy lead to a rapid increase in coal consumption and production, which lead to increased emission of harmful pollutants such as carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxide. Long term exposure to contaminants can cause health risks such as respiratory diseases, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases. Coal-burning factories are among the manufacturing industries causing air pollution in China as a result of gaseous emission to the atmosphere.

Air pollution has also been caused by gaseous emission from manufacturing industries. The output from the manufacturing industries has also significantly participated in air pollution. The factories that burn coal contribute to the smog due to an emission of carbon dioxide (Lelieveld, 2015). Chinas economic growth has led to the establishment of many manufacturing companies both large scale and small scale. Therefore, the gaseous emissions have continued to increase leading to air pollution. Industrial pollution so far is the main contributor to air pollution in China. The common emissions from the manufacturing industries are sulfur, carbon dioxide, oxides of nitrogen and methane. Presence of too many gases in the atmosphere results in illnesses and environmental complications. Acid rains, the presence of smog, and diseases such as respiratory disorders are some of the effects of industrial pollution (Song, 2017). Chinese authorities have taken several measures in the prevention of air pollution. However, controlling regional air pollution fine particles and ozone, as well as lowering carbon emissions from fossils fuel consumption has been a big challenge for the country (Wang, 2016).To prevent the destruction of public health and eco-system, the ambient air quality in all cities shall attain the national ambient air quality standards and ambient air quality guideline values set by the world health organization. To get the air quality targets, the emissions of sulfur, nitrogen carbon, and volatile organic compounds should decrease by 60%, 40%, 50% and 40% consecutively. A control policy targeting multiple pollutants and emission sources at local and regional levels was set to control the air pollution issue in China. The options included the development of clean energy resources, promotion of clean and efficient coal use, enhancement of vehicle pollution control, implementation of synchronous control of multiple pollutants including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen, and volatile organic compounds emissions, joint prevention and control of regional air pollution, and application of climate-friendly air pollution control measures. Chinese also trees as a measure of preventing air pollution.

In conclusion, air pollution involves the introduction of harmful gases in the atmosphere. Air pollution in China is mostly caused by the emission of toxic gases from vehicles. Toxic gases lead to effects on the environment causing acid rain and also affect human health causing respiratory diseases. Air pollution has also been caused by an output from manufacturing industrial practices, which has led to the emission of harmful gases in the atmosphere. Coal combustion leads to the emission of toxic gases which are harmful to the atmosphere.  Increased population indulging in air pollution practices has resulted to air pollution. Several measures have been adopted to prevent air pollution. The development of clean energy resources has ensured prevention of air pollution. Promotion of clean and efficient coal use to limit the emission of harmful gasses to atmosphere. Enhancement of vehicle pollution control to ensure the gases emitted by the vehicles are not deposited in the atmosphere. Implementation of synchronous control of multiple pollutants including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen and volatile organic compounds emissions, joint prevention and control of regional air pollution. Application of climate-friendly air pollution control measures. Chinese also adopted planting trees as a prevention measure of reducing air pollution.