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China's Invisible Enemy
A nation developing at a remarkable pace must rely on massive but cheap amounts of fuel in order to function. But this cheap fuel is taking a terrible toll on the environment because of all the excess waste released into the air during the burning process (PM 2.5). Many factories in China even operate illegally, without a permit or authorization to be running by the Chinese government. Civilians in most of China breathe this toxic air almost 365 days a year, yet they don't even realize the terrible damage it's doing to their bodies. This may even play a leading role in the extinction of man, The 6th Mass Extinction.
A foggy haze shrouds Chinese cities for almost every day of the year. News reporters and environmentalists are all confused as to what this haze is so they simply call it fog. But this is no “fog”, this is smog. This smog causes 300,000 - 500,000 premature births each year, and over 100,000 lung disease related deaths in both males and females each year. Car manufactures in the world must produce cars with at least a standard 4. Most cars manufactured in china only meet standard 1 or 2. The levels of standards are given to vehicles that reach requirements that deem them more friendly to the environment. If a car meets standard 4, That means the car has an attachment to the exhaust pipe that filters out the exhaust and removes most of the major pollutant gases therefore making the exhaust less environmentally damaging It's also more costly, and the government does not crack down on cars that don't meet requirements. But what's wrong with burning coal and oil? Other countries do too. Do you know how much coal china has burned in all. In 2013 a study showed that china has consumed an estimated 3.6 billion tons, burning more coal than all of the rest of the countries in the world combined. This may affect how china is viewed by other countries or environmentalists, especially when it comes to China volunteering to host major events.
In 2008 when Beijing applied to host the olympics the only thing in there way that prevented them from hosting it was the smog; Air pollution. Almost immediately, the government cracked down on factories operating throughout beijing and shut them down. Cars were forbidden to drive unless there was an emergency or it was absolutely necessary. The Chinese government tried to encourage the public to walk to there destination or ride a bike by creating bike lanes on the side of roads. Those who rode bikes have no where to ride other than in the middle of traffic lanes. Bicycle lanes are almost always full of cars, beijing has more than 5 million cars but only half of them have available parking space. Doesn't all of humanity act this way when there are no regulations. Back in london, car owners would also park their cars like that, but after parking meters were put to use and london raised its parking fee, congestion was eased. Shenzhen a city in china also did that, but what happened was the cars were parked in the lane right next to the bike lane, blocking traffic.
In recent years China has began to clean up its act and taken responsibility for the billions of dollars of damages it has caused and irreversible environmental damage. Protests and Outrage has broken out as well. That’s why China recently signed a deal with Russia that’ll begin in 2020, Costing an estimate of 400$ Billion Dollars, To transport billions of tons of natural gas from Russia to China. But that’s still not enough to power an energy hungry China that consumes an estimated 28% of the world's energy daily. Creating More Nature Park reserves to filter out the air of toxins. And becoming more open to the public about the crisis and problem they're currently facing.
But China is amongst the developing nations that doesn't have a stable government or economy to build things that are environmentally friendly and struggles to maintain regulations. The Chinese government continues to try and regulate laws, but the change is hard for the public, because, for them, it’s a way of life.
Works Cited
"Air Pollution Grows in Tandem with China's Economy." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 08 May 2015.
"China Buried Smog Death Finding." BBC News. BBC, 03 July 2007. Web. 08 May 2015.
Demick, Barbara. "U.S. Embassy Air Quality Data Undercut China's Own Assessments." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2011. Web. 08 May 2015.