I stumbled across an article just recently on a current
event that happened in China (Is China's pollution really getting worse?) due
to the poor air quality. The article
immediately took me back to when I was there studying aboard a couple of
summers ago. In the summer of 2011, I
traveled to Beijing China and studied Tai Chi at Beijing Sport University. Living on campus and being fully immersed in
the Chinese culture and student population was exhilarating and eye
opening. The hospitality of the students
was endearing and made us feel somewhat at home even though we were on the
other side of the globe. The food was
delicious and never failed to surprise us either. The whole trip was a once in a lifetime
experience and I could talk about it for days.
However, there were a couple of things I noticed while living there, one
thing that I noticed in particular while in China, was the extremely poor air
quality and dirtiness of the city. There
were always piles of trash along the streets, in alleys and bathrooms. The air was so hazy some days I thought it
was a cloudy day until someone told me otherwise.
I understand that Beijing is highly populated if not over
populated, thus producing a lot of waste and air pollution. The air quality was so poor in the in city
that most days were very hazy and we could not see the sun or more than a mile
in front of us. Also, I ended up getting
sick with a sinus infection due to the poor air quality; I will spare you the
details of that. Back to the article, this
article reported "that schools were closed in Harbin, China because people
were having trouble seeing their own fingers." “Also, traffic ground to a halt in the city,
and two buses went off route unintentionally due to the thick sight blocking
haze. The recent rise in pollution was
due to the heat being turned on.”
"The state controls when the heat turns on. It goes on for everyone
at the same time on the same day. The
spike in Harbin is due to the fact that they just turned on the heat, and the
heat demands the burning of coal." (Global Post) To have a city shut down due to daily routine
inhibiting air pollution is an outrage! Not only is this completely unhealthy
for the people but for the earth as well.
Not to mention when a city shuts down, so does production, goods and
services and now education.
“In July China invested 1.7 trillion yuan ($277 billion) to
combat air pollution over the next five years.” “The government plans to reduce
air emissions by 25% by 2017 compared with the 2012 levels in northern China.” (Huffington
post) It is good to see action taking
place to combat such an ‘air-apocalypse’.
I could not imagine being trapped in a polluted environment
like that. I wonder how the people of
China feel about this and if the government has even spent time with the people
to get their insight. I know extreme measures are needed now to save the city
and even the country…but there has got to be something that can be done to help
the people living in this smog filled environment. What do you think?
Classmates from China, what are you experiences with this?
Brittney, I was really enjoying your article (rather than the air pollution in China unfortunately)! Your experience in Beijing reminded me of the delicious food in China…Anyway, I appreciate you raising the questions about China’s poor air quality. When I was still in China two years ago, the air quality was getting worse, especially in eastern regions of China because of the economic development, but not that bad. However, as the awareness of government, as well as citizens, in protecting environment has been relatively weak, the problem is increasingly getting worse. The number of days that are heavily hazy grows a lot. Millions of people in China are breathing unclean air, which might lead to adverse health consequences, such as asthma and other respiratory diseases. China’s tremendous development on economy is achieved at a huge price. Power plants, factories, vehicle exhaust emissions and heavy industries are belching out dirty air, jeopardizing people’s health and the environment, even globally. I came across one article reporting the countries nearby, such as South Korea and Japan, complained China’s air pollution has harmed their environment to some degree. It is a severe global problem. In terms of the ways to deal with air pollution in China, the government encourages people limit the use of motor vehicle to reduce exhaust emissions by taking more public transportation and driving less. However, I think tackling air pollution requires more efforts of officials. Among Chinese, in my opinion, perhaps it is commonly assumed that people just place the hopes in others and no one acts. People are normally angry at the problem but few people take action. I read some news of Western media, which are surprised that Chinese people just wear masks, rather than fight and express concerns to the government. The silence has deeply historic and political basis. The government of China has long positioned as the nation’s problem solver and has dominant power to regulate the country, thus individuals tend to ignore personal responsibility and power to deal with social issues themselves. It’s actually everyone’s responsibility to protect the environment, and it calls for actions of government. As far as I know, the government has implemented roles and regulations to reduce the use of coal in companies and industries, switching to clean, zero emissions energy sources. It is a long-term process needs long-term efforts.
ReplyDeleteReferences:
http://www.greenpeace.org/eastasia/campaigns/air-pollution/
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2013/01/30/chinas-air-pollution-problem-whose-responsibility/