Air Pollution in Hong Kong Air pollution takes place when the air contains gases, fumes dust, or odor in dangerous sums. That means the quantities that may be injurious to the health of humans as well as animals and or may lead to damage to plants and other materials. The elements that cause air pollution are known as pollutants. Pollutants that are thrusted into the air and directly contaminate the air are known as primary pollutants. Primary contaminant examples are carbon monoxide from car dissipates and sulfur dioxide from the burning of coal. Further contamination of air can arise if primary pollutants in the air go through chemical reaction. The resultant compounds are known as secondary pollutants. One of the examples of secondary pollutants …show more content…
As Hong Kong moves from its outdated communist monetary system to a more market-based style, prices for virtually all goods as well as services have been unrestricted by the government and allowed to float liberally in the market. One of the few omissions to this vital transformation has been the price of fuel. Not only does the government control the price of fuel, but it also punishes anybody who vends gas above the ceiling. This cheap gas is promoting its usage at the time when consumption should be restricted. Prices of the oil have reached record levels ubiquitously, yet Hong Kong that is just starting to consume gas and oil at an incredible level. Hong Kong’s vehicle use is taking its toll on the ecosystem, as more individuals own cars yet continue to use low grade gas. The air pollution is largely due to the exhausted gas of automobiles. The diesel-using vehicles are generating the major quantity of the exhausted gas among others. It is because the burning will not always be finalized in the diesel using car engines. Thus, they produce much toxic gases like carbon monoxide, nitrogen monoxide, particularly lead among others that lead damage the brain development of children, extremely damaging their wellbeing. Moreover, the vehicles yield suspended particles, which damage the respiratory system. The air quality in Hong Kong is so poor as the air pollution index reached 140 during
There are six common pollutants in the air, which include ozone, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, and lead. These pollutants led to many different symptoms across the United States. Ozone pollution leads to impaired respiratory system. Particulate matter affects respiratory systems, causes cancer, and premature death. Carbon monoxide affects the bloodstream and reduces oxygen to the body’s organs. Nitrogen oxide causes influenza. Sulfur dioxide effects respiratory illness and pulmonary defenses. Lead causes effects in the liver,
Since the birth of automobiles in 1866, the majority of mankind has relied heavily on this mode of transportation, especially in the United States. According to the California DMV there are 24,290,288 licensed drivers in California (DMV, 2013), which is approximately 63.3% of the population. Ever since the invention of automobiles, gas emission into the atmosphere has become one of the biggest issues for mankind. In Garret Hardin’s essay, The Tragedy of the Commons, Hardin defines a common as a resource that is accessible for everyone in society. Clean air became a modern commons in this sense. The quality of air is especially bad in California where there are 31,388,901 registered vehicles for a population of 37,826,160. In 2012, the quality of air hit a record low in California’s Central Valley. If we continue to dismiss the issue of air pollution, we will gravely endanger our health as current air pollution related health effects already include lung diseases and cancer. The solutions to the smog pollution problem are to develop cleaner emission engines, as part of a technical solution, as well as raise awareness among the residents of the Central Valley.
As a country with more people, there are assumably more cars, meaning more gases will be emitted that harm the environment. However, if a rapidly growing population stopped growing as quickly, there would be less people to need cars, which reduces pollution. The vice director of Population Commission in Henan says that the population being controlled “have kept sulfur dioxide emissions down by 17.6%” and “[reduced] water pollution 30.8%” (Document C). With such a significant decrease, less people were being diagnosed with pollution related illnesses. Sulfur Dioxide, a gas that is emitted from cars, “is a major cause of asthma and bronchial infection” (Document C), and with less Sulfur Dioxide in the air, people can have a healthier life.
Wong, Edward. "China’s Plan to Curb Air Pollution Sets Limits on Coal Use and Vehicles." 12 September 2013. New York Times. 18 November 2013.
Pollution is a major problem for all of us. People need to recognize this situation so we can start making a difference to this problem. In order to start making a difference, the federal government should increase gasoline tax by one dollar a gallon. Fifty percent of this dollar will go towards public transportation, since passenger cars and trucks are a major contribution towards air pollution, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, E.P.A (10/4, http://www.epa.gov/autoemissions/emsns.html). Due to the expected increase after this is put forth, the remaining fifty percent of the dollar will go towards safety on these transits. When public transportation increases, air pollution will decrease, which will lessen the harmful health risks towards the environment.
Ever since 1908, when Henry Ford manufactured a car that was affordable to most families, the need for oil has been growing more and more every year as humans want more and more products that use oil or are made from it. People and their need for oil far exceeds the need to fill up their car. It stretches out to vast amount of products that people use every day. Including plastics bags when they go shopping, the shampoo they use to clean their hair, the toys their kids play with and the insulation used to keep their houses warm. However with all the positives of oil they’re a lot of negatives that are a result of using oil. One immediate negative oil causes is pollution, oil has two predominant types of pollution. But before we can talk about the different types of pollution. We first need to understand what pollution is. According to Jack Dini and two chapters from his book, Challenging the Environmental Mythology: Wrestling Zeus. Dini says his definition of pollution is “To pollute is to make physically impure or unclean: to contaminate especially with man-made waste” (Dini-2). He later mentions that pollution has two different parameters. The first one being dirtiness and the second being danger. Dini writes “while safety is often talked about as an absolute requirement, modern science can detect such infinitesimally small dangers that the decision about how much health threatening pollution to allow becomes a matter of preference or efficiency, not and absolute.” (Dini-2). By writing this Dini recognizes that there is technology that can tell people when there is to much pollution, however once they know how much pollution there is, it is up to the people to decide when enough is enough and make a change. One being air pollut...
China is on the quest to secure massive amounts of energy. This demand for this overall energy is based on the fact that China is the country with the most population on the globe and with a rapidly growing economy. According to Jenkins (2012), over the last 30 years the GDP has increased over 9 percent annually, which makes China the second largest global economy. China has out ranked Germany in becoming the world's number one exporter (Jenkins, 2012). The developments from this growth are an across the board effect on motorization, urbanization, and industrialization which is manifested in the extensive construction of infrastructures and the extreme popularity of automobiles. The results of these factors are energy concerns, both environmental and precautionary, and a rapidly increasing demand for oil, particularly as a fuel for automobiles. Linwei, Feng, Zheng, and Pei (2012) asserts that views on the future oil consumption of China varies with support for oil independence, a steady course of oil reliance, or the suggestion of development of a limited level of substituting alternative fuels. Because of their desperate need for energy, China is pouring monies and labor into the expansion of other countries hoping to secure entrance and access to resources. These opinionated differences are forcing decision makers to evaluate the situation again and continue to study the development and future trends of oil in China. Although China is a coal producing country and has increased its natural gas usage, its need for oil is great, especially since in 2011, the International Energy Agency reports China's oil consumption growth was responsible for 50 percent of the global oil consumption growth. The country is searching for alternati...
Gasoline fueled cars produce a number of pollutants. The most damaging pollutants that come from gasoline fueled cars are particulate matter. Particulate matter is a sequence of organic materials and inorganic substances. It includes ingredients such as lint and minerals. Nitrogen dioxide, produced when fuel is burned at high temperatures, can cause damage to the lungs and cause chest pains. One might ask, “Why are Americans still driving gasoline cars?” knowing the damage that they are subject to cause. I personally maintain that the government should push people to p...
Air pollution is caused by many things such as car fumes, burning of fossil fuels,
There are many kinds of air pollution. The ones I want to talk about are the ozone, acid rain, carbon monoxide and toxic air contaminants. Ozone is formed when hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxide react in sunlight. Therefore, ozone is at its peak during hot summer days. Exposure to high levels of ozone can have serious consequences on your health. It can cause respiratory disease, loss of pulmonary elasticity, and premature aging of our lungs. Next, is acid rain, which occurs in the atmosphere in the form of sulfur and nitrogen oxide. These pollutants can have serious damaging affects on aquatic, forest and wildlife ecosystems, as well as deterioration of buildings. Carbon monoxide is another form of pollution. It reduces the blood?s ability to carry oxygen. If a human is exposed to higher levels, it can cause chest pains, angina attacks or even death.
Countries such as China and Japan need to enforce more powerful regulations on the amount of carbon emissions that they produce. China put in regulations just this last year and Japan postponed plans for a national regulations on carbon emissions, bowing to powerful business groups that warned of job losses as they compete against overseas rivals facing fewer emissions regulations. It’s not a good sign that large corporations can control how a nation regulates its environmental safety laws. China is finally planning to regulate their carbon emissions. This is long over due concerting that China ranks as the world’s number one carbon dioxide emitter, thanks in part to the massive amounts of coal the country burns. China currently builds a new coal-fired power plant at a rate of about one every week to ten days. The country’s coal burning levels are nearly on par with the rest of the world combined.
Air pollution is a type of pollution that can severely damage our environment as well as the earth’s atmosphere. Air pollution occurs all the time when the air contains many substances ...
Car pollutants cause immediate and long-term effects on the environment. Car exhausts emit a wide range of gases and solid matter, causing global warming, acid rain, and harming the environment and human health. Engine noise and fuel spills also cause pollution. Cars, trucks and other forms of transportation are the single largest contributor to air pollution in the United States, but car owners can reduce their vehicle's effects on the environment. Car pollution is one of the major causes of global warming. Cars and trucks emit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, which contribute one-fifth of the United States' total global warming pollution. Greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere, which causes worldwide temperatures to rise.
Air Pollution is when a poisonous or a harmful substance is released in the air. There are many form of pollution but air is one of them, it only occurs when dust, harmful gases or smoke enters into the atmosphere and makes it hard for species like plants, animals and humans to live in a difficult situation because of the dirty air.Air Pollution is classified in two sections, invisible air pollution and visible air pollution.. Hence any substance that makes it difficult for the living things that need the atmosphere is air pollution.Humans have been undergoing air pollution ever since the industrial revolution.In order to understand the causes of Air pollution, it is divided into divisions. Primary air pollutants and secondary air pollutants:
...t a viable way. The government can pass and enforce stricter environmental laws, thus stopping pollution from worsening any further. Also pollution can be caused by many other ways due to bad living choices made by people, so banning ownership of vehicles is not the only way to decrease pollution. Besides, vehicles are an essential part of modern city living, so the government should find another solution to stop pollution such as implementing solar powered vehicles rather than just blindly banning the ownership of vehicles. Carbon emission from vehicles should be reduced and the government must think of a better way of solving the pollution problem rather than banning the ownership of private vehicles. Lastly, government should find a better solution to solve the pollution problem besides the banning of the ownership of private vehicles which clearly does not work.