The Chinese Government and its Effort to Reduce Air Pollution

By Tanvir Youhana

November 19, 2018

Pollution has been around since the start of industrialization, especially air pollution. In the recent United Nation’s scientific panel on climate change shows the drastic effects of pollution that it is having on the world and on China. It is said by scientist, who have made reports to the United Nation’s scientific panel, that as soon as the year 2040 we will see worsening food shortages, more wildfires, and a mass die-off of coral reefs. Not only that but China including other countries are going to be exposed to the effects of increased coastal flooding by 2040. It is up to governments, like China, to do something to reduce pollution in all ways necessary.

China and Pollution

China’s economy was one of the well-known economies that had a huge growth. This was all due to the rapid urbanization and industrialization that China went through.  Even though rapid urbanization and industrialization has brought China a great deal of economic growth, it has a downside. That downside is pollution, specifically air pollution, which is harming the land of China and its people. According to Shostya, “Rapid Urbanization and industrialization have caused a series of environmental problems including arable land loss, urban congestion, flooding, health hazards due to toxic materials, water and air pollution, biodiversity loss, and the emission of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, a major contribution to global warming” (Shostya). China has a huge problem in its hand and something must be done by the government to reduce pollution in China. It is affecting not just the environment but also is putting the life of the people in danger with health hazards from toxic material.

In other words, most of Chinas energy comes from these coal powered power plants. It has become harder and harder for China to get away from because it is so cheap and produces great results. According to Shostya, “Also, since the Chinese elite, which controls the government is mostly made of up oil company owners which are reluctant to switch to alternative resources because it is bad for their business” (Shostya). The Chinese elite is not willing to change the foundation of their resources because it will hurt them in terms of business. China has a lot of excess of everything and that is one of the reasons for so much pollution in China. It takes factories that use coal power to produce these items such as the autos and these autos are being produced in huge number and used to let out even more carbon dioxide into the air. According to Yale Global, “…it’s no surprise that China’s major state-owned oil companies have lobbied against enforcing higher fuel efficiency standards, even as the number of autos in Beijing has jumped from 3 million in 2008 to more than 5 million in 2013” (Yale Global).  These autos are one of the things that the Chinese governments need to take care of help reduce air pollution. They are just adding more pollutants in the air, such as PM2.5.

PM2.5 Particles and its Affects

Consequently, air pollution has been a huge problem since the start of industrialization and China is in the center of it. The air in China is one of the worst in the world and causes smog. The cause of this smog that covers many countries in China is tiny particle released into the air that can cause harm. These particles, also known as PM2.5, can get into the human body through the airways and travel to deep parts of the lungs. According to the China Power Team, “PM2.5 presents the greatest danger to human health since it can accumulate deep inside the lungs” (China Power Team). The health of the people of China are in great danger with these harmful particles in the air and are causing health problems for the people of China.

Furthermore, the cause of air pollution and these particles can be many factors in China. One main cause is the coal powered power plants that China has. According to China Power Team, “Its economic growth, largely reliant on coal energy, has lifted millions of people out of poverty, but it has also led to rapid environmental degradation and smog-covered cities” (China Power Team). It can be seen with anyone’s eye that the haze that covers many of Chinas cities is because of the coal power plants that are releasing carbon dioxide emissions, but since it has allowed for fast growth, everything else is not taken into consideration. A blind eye is shown to the more important of pollution and the all that harm that it is causing to China.

PM2.5 Concentration

According to China Power Team, “The WHO Air Quality Guidelines stipulate that a country’s annual mean of fine particulate matter of PM2.5 (particle matter 2.5 microns or less in diameter) should not exceed 10 micrograms per cubic meter, and 20 micrograms per cubic meter for PM10” (China Power Team). Based on the WHO Air quality guide it can be said that China far exceeds the 10 micrograms per cubic meter for PM2.5 particles in the air. According to China Power Team, “China’s annual PM2.5 levels are consistently five times higher on average than the advised WHO limit of 10 micrograms per cubic meter, which can lead to increased likelihood of respiratory issues in sensitive individuals,” said China Power Team. China is putting it putting its citizens in danger of developing health problems that can eventually lead to death with such high concentration of PM2.5 particle levels.

Government vs Air Pollution

Even more, how is the Chinese Government making efforts to reduce the exposure of harmful air born particles from the people? According to Nan-Nan Zhang, Fang Ma, Chang-Bo Qin, Yi-Fan Li, “To curb PM2.5 pollution, the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan (APPCAP) was introduced in an executive meeting of the People’s Republic of China in June 2013” (Zhang, Ma, Qin, Li). The Chinese government is taking actions to levitate the high concertation of these harmful air particles in the air, due to air pollution. The APPCAP is a plan that was designed to reduce the ambient air particles in the air of China. According to Huang, “This action was considered to be the most stringent air pollution control policy in China to date and is a promising step for China to improve its air quality and attempt to achieve substantial health benefits for the population” (Huang). There seems to be a promising effort made by the government to help reduce air pollution in China for the sake of the people and their health. This also shows that the government is aware of the issue at hand and that they are willing to take measure to help reduce it.

Furthermore, according to Zhang, Ma, Qin, Li, “Since the implementations of the APPCAP, significant declines have been noted in the annual mean PM2.5 concentrations throughout China,” said Zhang, Ma, Qin, Li through the research that they have done. It looks like that the government of China has taken some actions as to reduce the concentration of PM2.5. According to China Power Team, “For the past several years, Beijing has a made a concerted effort to reduce high concentrations of air pollution across China” (China Power Team). Credit must be given to the Chinese government for doing something to reduce the air pollution in China. However, according to Shostya, “This means that an increase in population by 10 % increases ambient air pollution by approximately 2 %” (Shostya). It can be inferred that China needs to do even more than to keep up with its growing population. The exponential growth of Chinas population has a direct correlation to the increase in air pollution in China according to Shostya.

More evidence points to the fact China is winning the race against air pollution and reducing it in its cities. According to Michael Greenstone, “To reach these targets, China prohibited new coal-fired power plants in the country’s most polluted regions, including the Beijing area. Existing plants were told to reduce their emissions. If they didn’t, the coal was replaced with natural gas” (Greenstone). In four years’, time, the Chinese government has taken the issue seriously and has invested money in the project of reducing pollution. It also goes to show that air pollution isn’t completely gone from China, but progress is being made.

Results of APPCAP

The Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan was first introduced in 2013 and through the years it has shown that China has made improvements in its air quality. According to Huang, “There were large reductions in PM2.5 concentrations, which occurred in a non-linear pattern, with a rapid reduction at first, followed by slower reductions” (Huang). This new plan that the Chinese government put into effect really helped decrease the level of PM2.5 and even other harmful air born particles in the air.

The table above shows that with the new plan, the concentration of PM2.5 and other air born particles decreased at an exponential rate. This study was done over the course of five years from when the APPAC was first introduced to 2017.

Citizens Role

Furthermore, the people of China also have a duty to help the government out in the effort to reduce air pollution in China. They can do things at home that will help China in the long run. They can recycle all recyclable items and push for the government of China to use for renewable resources instead of coal as a main source of energy. The people of China have the power to come together and advocate for more change and surely the Chinese government must answer the calls of the people.

The Other Side

In contrast, there are people that state that the Chinese government isn’t doing enough to reduce the pollution in China. Smog still covers the many cities of China; however, this is not the case. China has made pollution its main priority, putting millions of dollars into reducing pollution in major cities and improving the air quality for a better standard of living. According to Huang, “The targets of the APPCAP were achieved, and noteworthy health benefits were observed during the 5-year period. In 2017, as a result of significant improvements in air quality…” The air quality in China has gotten better as a result of the APPCAP plan that the government implemented, and China air quality made a huge improvement over the years.

In conclusion, air pollution is a problem that has been faced by China since the time it started to industrialize. Industrialization leads to economic growth for China, but with great economic growth came a downside. That downside was pollution in the air that was caused by the coal-burning factories in China that power almost everything. Not only that but also the cars release greenhouse gas emotions into the air while driving. The growing population of China isn’t helping decreased air pollution as well. However, the Chinese government acted and made air quality in China a priority. They introduced the APPCAP plan which set limits to the number of resources that can be used as well as put a target goal for the plan at the end of its expiration date which was 2017. It can be seen through the studies that air quality improved in China and the harmful PM2.5 particles were drastically lower in concertation.

 

Bibliography

China Power Team. “Is air quality in China a social problem?” China Power. February 15, 2016.  Updated July 16, 2018. Accessed September 23, 2018. https://chinapower.csis.org/air-quality/

Davenport, Coral. “Major Climate Report Describes a Strong Risk of Crisis as Early as 2040.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 Oct. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/10/07/climate/ipcc-climate-report-2040.html.

Greenstone, Michael. “Four Years After Declaring War on Pollution, China Is Winning.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 12 Mar. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/03/12/upshot/china-pollution-environment-longer-lives.html.

“Is China Choking on Success?” Yale Global Online, 15 Feb. 2013. Opposing Viewpoints in Context,http://link.galegroup.com.ccnyproxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/apps/doc/A318894210/OVIC?u=cuny_ccny&sid=OVIC&xid=eba252a9. Accessed 16 Sept. 2018.

Shostya, Anna. “Ambient air pollution in China: predicting a turning point.” International Advances in Economic Research, vol. 22, no. 3, 2016, p. 295+. Academic OneFile,  http://link.galegroup.com.ccnyproxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/apps/doc/A463755600/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=AONE&xid=da90118d. Accessed 16 Sept. 2018.

Yan, Dan, et al. “Evolution of the spatiotemporal pattern of PM2.5 concentrations in China — A case study from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.” Atmospheric Environment, vol. 183, 2018, p. 225. Academic OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A536600286/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=AONE&xid=f3971865. Accessed 28 Oct. 2018.

Zhang, Nan-Nan, et al. “Spatiotemporal trends in PM.sub.2.5 levels from 2013 to 2017 and regional demarcations for joint prevention and control of atmospheric pollution in China.” Chemosphere, vol. 210, 2018, p. 1176. Academic OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A553361365/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=AONE&xid=66d26fa7. Accessed 28 Oct. 2018.