Air Pollution In Chinese Cities Essay

Introduction: In recent decades, air pollution has increasingly become a problem in modern cities. Air pollution is any type of gas released in big enough quantities that it becomes detrimental to human health. In the People’s Republic of China it has become one of the leading causes of death. High-levels of particulates and sulfur dioxide are recorded in many Chinese cities. These cities are often regarded as the most polluted in the world. Much of this pollution is generated by power plants and automobiles unregulated by the post-1978 reform era.
Cause:
Economic growth is a major driving force behind the air pollution crisis in China. China became one of the world 's fastest-growing major economies when economic reforms were introduced

The average person takes about 25,000 breaths per day. In China, it is often recommended not to breathe so much outside. In 2013, the capital city of Beijing suffered 60 days of pollution above emergency levels; meaning city officials warned citizens it was unsafe to be outside. The worst to suffer that year was Xingtai, a city of 7 million inhabitants, which was struck by 129 days where the pollution threshold was considered at emergency levels (sometimes 40x over the exposure safety limit set by WHO). Many studies in Chinese cities have reported likely links between exposure to air pollution and increases in respiratory symptoms (such as cough, phlegm, bronchitis, asthma,

The Chinese government plans to move close to 75 percent of the nation’s population to cities between 2000 and 2030.
The risks to health from China’s environmental crisis are not just limited to China. Natural wind currents transport pollutants from China’s atmosphere to neighboring countries, such as Japan and Korea, there are even some reports that pollutants may have traveled as far East to the Western coast of the United States. Sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOn) from China’s coal-fueled power plants have been revealed accumulate as acid rain in other Asian cities. China’s air pollution crisis is important to examine as it impacts on an international, even global scale.