7/27/2019 Shrouded in Smoke

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By Bethany Bella

Chinese government ofcials

are seeking to minimize the threat

of pollution in major cities, accord-

ing to New York TimesEdward

Wong.

For several years, air pollution

has been a tremendous issue indensely populated Chinese cities

these areas have some of the worst

air pollution in the world. With ne

particulate matter concentrations

dramatically rising above exposure

limits, troves of civilians are dying

from thick, smog-clogged air. In

one report, 1.2 million premature

deaths were recorded in China for

the year 2010, due in part to critical

levels of outdoor pollution.Greenpeace East Asia and

several other international, ecolog-

ical organizations have pressured

the Chinese government for years,

persuading them to enact laws that

restrict the onset of more pollu-

tion. On Sept. 12, the State Coun-

cil, Chinas cabinet, announced

its revolutionary plan to curb air

pollution. New regulations will

tighten yearly coal-burning fac-

tory emissions, while all vehicles

labeled high-polluted in 2005 must

be removed from roads by the end

of 2015.

Nevertheless, environmental

advocates are concerned this agen-

da will not protect society from

the potential hazards of persistent

pollution. Ma Jun, a prominent

environmental advocate, believes

that if China does not upgrade

its coal-dependent industries, coal

consumption can never be curbed.

Similarly, Huang Wei thinks that

these new standards have fallen

short of our expectations. This

ambitious plan is Chinas most

direct attempt to provide a solutionto the air pollution problem, but

whether or not the plan will actu-

ally remove the threat of pollution

remains debatable.

I nd it quite disheartening that

the Chinese people remain in such

a clogged, polluted environment.

To have cities shrouded in a layer

of thick smog, harming the health

of its citizens, seems like an unde-

sirable and unwelcome nuisance.China is one of the most com-

pacted countries on Earth, in terms

of its population density; therefore,

the location of such an issue as crit-

ical air pollution is not surprising.

However, I was horried by the

number of reported deaths caused

in part by dangerous levels of

pollutants in the lower troposphere.

How could China

have refused to act

on such hazardous

air-level concentra-

tions for so long?

Why havent they

enacted laws be-

fore, prohibiting

major fossil fuel

consumption, now

that the public has

to walk around with gas masks and

face wraps on their heads?

Perhaps, China has been fo-

cused on maintaining its already

over-populated civilization, provid

ing resources to the countless fam-

ilies in desperate need of service.

China has also become a booming

economic competitor in the worldmarket over recent years maybe

they spent more time developing

the latest technologies rather than

preserving the environment. But

now that their people are tragically

suffocating from harmful pollut-

ants, the Chinese government is

looking to curb pollution produc-

tion.

My sincerest hope is that China

develops a rapid plan of attack,in order to exterminate its current

dependence on coal as an energy

source. China has provided the

United States with an example on

how not to let fossil fuels dictate

human life, for the exploitation of

nonrenewable resources can be, in

fact, quite deadly.