Air Pollution Risks - Research Paper Example

أعلى النموذج Air Pollution             Air pollution is one of the greatest risks to human existence on the planet. As will be shown, many believe the addition of large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere has led to the air heating up. This is melting the ice caps and changing the water temperature in the oceans. Warmer water does not process CO2 as efficiently as cold water and evaporates quicker, making severe storms more likely and more spontaneous at the same time that rainfall amounts become disrupted on the continents. Rising waters will reclaim low-laying land, including several densely populated areas, and displace thousands of people. At the same time, pollutants released into the air create phenomena such as smog. This is poisoning everything from our food supply to our lungs, making living in some areas toxic to human health. This pollution also gets washed out of the sky with rain and penetrates deep into our soils and accumulates in run-off, polluting water supplies. One of the countries contributing the most to air pollution is China. China is growing and expanding modern technologies which contribute to air pollution. In order to stop the damage, the air pollution has to be stopped. Unfortunately, not everyone agrees that air pollution is leading to warmer temperatures and abnormal weather systems. People need to be educated with facts about air pollution so that they will work harder to stop it. One of the greatest problems facing scientists claiming air pollution is leading to global warming is the fact that the production of CO2, the largest contributing factor to air pollution, is a natural process. It is necessary to understand this process in order to understand how it has been enhanced by human activity in China and elsewhere. It occurs during external respiration (breathing), which is scientifically defined as the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between an animal and its environment (Harrison, 2003). This natural gas exchange takes place through the process of diffusion. The term diffusion refers to the random movement of particles in space. This movement forces the transference of molecules from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration. Oxygen is taken into the animal’s body because there is less oxygen inside the animal’s lungs than there is in the outer environment, while carbon dioxide, because of its higher inner concentration, gets pushed out. Thus, the simple process of respiration results in ‘air pollution.’ Once an animal or plant dies, more carbon is released as the material structure breaks down or is burned – as in the case of burning wood, coal or oil, including corn oil. The carbon cycle is the process by which CO2 moves through the atmosphere, oceans, biosphere and geosphere in some form. Biology obviously plays a key role in the apparent movement of carbon between land, ocean, and atmosphere through the processes of photosynthesis and respiration. Plants absorb CO2 from the environment during the process of photosynthesis as long as the sun is out, and then release CO2 back into the environment during respiration at night. Respiration is thus the reverse action of photosynthesis as plants release the energy held in sugars for metabolism and alter carbohydrate “fuel” back into carbon dioxide. This carbon dioxide is thus returned back into the atmosphere (Harrison, 2003). This chemical mixes with water vapor that comprises the clouds and hovers within the lower atmosphere. The presence of CO2 traps the heat of the sun from escaping back into space and thus acts as an insulator for the planet, allowing it to warm up enough to support life. However, man’s actions since the discovery of fossil fuels and their potential have significantly thrown off the natural balance. While acknowledging the many ways that air pollution is naturally generated on the planet, Mick (2000) demonstrates that levels of CO2 in the atmosphere have dramatically risen since the introduction of industrialization. Great amounts of CO2 are now released into the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are burned by factories, vehicles and electricity-producing power plants to name a few sources. The vast majority of this excessive fuel consumption and its poisonous, pollutant and greenhouse-enhancing byproducts are located in the U.S., Europe, Russia and increasingly China (Breuer, 1980). Other greenhouse gases include methane, which is released when vegetation is burned during land clearing, through natural animal activities, during oil exploration activities and in the coal-mining process; chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which is the substance that cools refrigerators and provides the propulsion in aerosol cans and nitrous oxide (N2O) which is the lesser cause of CO2 (Breuer, 1980). It is estimated that man-made influences represent about half of the CO2 output. The additional trapped heat thus contributes to the well-documented melting of glaciers along with thermal expansion of the oceans, which have contributed to an increase in sea level over the past century of about six inches along China coasts. A reduction of snow cover in addition to lake and sea ice will have dire consequences for locations at higher latitudes and lower elevations, especially in the winter and spring months. Cloud compositions will change which will amplify the greenhouse effect. Shifting vegetation patterns, types and regional variations, will force major human adaptations, the degree to which is open to speculation (Trenberth, 1997). The elevated evaporation rate will hasten the drying effect of soil subsequent to rainfall which will result in drier conditions in many regions. The more rapid water recycling rate will result in heavier rainfall amounts and the number of extreme rainfall events. Higher rainfall rates will cause increased tropical storm intensity in addition to the warmer temperatures. Hurricanes may be even more frequent and intense than presently predicted. As horrific as this near-future scenario is, it remains the land masses that will suffer the greatest changes as a result of the greenhouse effect (Trenberth, 1997). As a result, global warming is a trend that represents a significant threat to life and property everywhere on the planet surface. The people most against the concept that global warming is happening are the people in charge of industry and high pollutant-causing companies. If they can convince people that global warming isn’t happening, then they can more easily fight against regulations and restrictions on their current practices. This has a direct relation to air pollution both because air pollution contributes to global warming and because convincing others that global warming isn’t happening means greater air pollution might be allowed. This is a particular problem in growing countries such as China where issues of large populations and needs for energy drive interest in industry faster than interest in environment. One of the major issues to overcome in terms of pollution is the effect of unsustainable populations. “Classical economist David Ricardo, a contemporary of Thomas Malthus, saw that continuing population growth leads to impoverishment because scarce natural resources are an absolute constraint on economic growth” (Abernathy, 1993: 9). Realization of the gaseous exchange taking place in the mere act of breathing helps to highlight why high population levels can cause issues in a given area. China undeniably has a problem with population growth, having instituted for several decades a mandated limit of one child per family in an effort to control population growth. Despite the very real and damaging humanitarian issues this policy introduces, there may actually be some real benefits to the program. A side effect of this program has been the tendency for Chinese couples, in their pursuit of male children to carry on the family name, to abort or otherwise dispose of female children. A reduction in the number of available females, as barbaric as the practice may seem, has the effect of reducing the number of babies produced within the country. Fewer women available to reproduce, especially when they are restricted in the number of children they are permitted to have. However, with large segments of China still considered to exist under third-world type conditions, suggests population growth will continue to be a problem for at least the next 40 years. According to Abernathy (1993), numerous experts in biology and natural systems have warned that episodes of mass famine are on the horizon leading to chronic malnutrition and millions vulnerable to disease. Long-lasting floods are likely as rainwater flows off of deforested, eroded mountains and social chaos will ensue as millions die or fail to have the means necessary to raise a child. “These tragedies – which may seem independent – have to be seen actually as symptoms of one cause: overpopulation” (Abernathy, 1993: 27). What this discussion of population makes clear is that increasing populations require greater and greater investment of natural resources, which themselves contribute to greater environmental damage including air pollution, and brings us closer and closer to unsustainability. In trying to determine the effects of air pollution in China, one of the key indicators is changes in climate and weather patterns within the country that can be correlated to advancements in technology and industry. China is one of the countries with the longest and most accurate records of climate history. In addition to the private diaries of scholars that indicated daily weather information and the references within romantic poetry to weather and climate, “military reports, grain price records, agricultural notes, and numerous other documents were related to weather and climate in some way” (Bradley & Phillip, 1995: 185). A study reported by Bradley and Phillip reveals that there has been significant climate change in all of the geographic areas studied within the geographical regions of Nanjing, Suzhou and Hangzhou from the 18th century as compared with modern data. “The mean rainy day frequency of May was smaller than that of June in all three locations in the 18th century. The opposite is true in the modern data. This reflects a shift in the rainy season in this region” (Bradley & Phillip, 1995: 188). Shifts in the rainy season necessitate shifts in the growing seasons of various food products. In addition to these shifts, the province of Nanjing shows an increase in average rainfall, meaning the area is wetter today than it has been in the past. This suggests the type of shifting patterns caused by air pollution increases in the industrial age referred to by Trenberth (1997). However, the problem of air pollution is not limited to problems of shifting weather patterns. According to one report released in 1999, the air quality in specific sections of China is among the worst in the world. “In 1995, more than one half of the 88 cities monitored for [sulfur dioxide] were above the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline. All but two of the 87 cities monitored for [total suspended particulates] far exceeded WHO’s guideline” (China’s Health and Environment, 1999). The majority of this pollution is caused by excessive coal burning, which is one of China’s principle sources of energy for factories and industry. Although there are measurable differences in the levels of this type of air pollution by geographic region in China, there is not necessarily an advantage in living in the North as compared to the South for better air quality. According to “China’s Health” (1999), there is significantly more coal burned in the North because of the greater need for home heating, but pollution levels are somewhat limited because of the cleaner coal available there. Less coal is burned in the South, but this is considered ‘dirty’ coal because of its high sulfur content. The air quality was held in check for several years thanks to tighter restrictions on emissions, but a new low was set earlier in 2010. “China’s air pollution has increased this year for the first time since 2005 due to sandstorms, a rise in construction and industrial projects as well as more cars” (China Says, 2010). As the air-borne pollutants increase, the problems related to them also expand. The airborne particulate issues in China are interrelated with the weather patterns discussed earlier. “When it comes to regional air pollution, physical geography and weather patterns often make the problem much worse. In particular, the mountains to the west and south of the eastern coastal plains [in China] form a barricade that prevents pollution from dispersing” (Alles, 2009). When the pollutants are not given the opportunity to disperse, they must settle where they are or continue causing issues for those creatures breathing in these areas. According to “China Says” (2010), “air pollution in the Asian nation was widely to blame for 1.3 million premature deaths a year from respiratory disease.” This figure is up a considerable ways from the 300,000 people estimated to die for the same reasons in China in 2003 even when adding the additional 111,000 people who die of indoor pollution (40,000 People, 2005). This pollution has also caused heavy contamination of the country’s freshwater drinking supplies both because of acid rain runoff and atmospheric transfer. More than a quarter of surface water in China is estimated to be contaminated and acid rain had been detected in the six beginning months of the year 2010. As one of the major contributors to the air pollution problem in China is the addition of more cars on national roadways, one potential solution to the country’s problem would be to introduce more electric or other alternatively powered vehicles. While this would solve the immediate problem of burning fossil fuels on an engine-by-engine basis, there remains the problem of how to generate the power to feed into the energy grid to charge these cars. Another significant drawback of electric vehicles is that they lack the necessary towing power required by the larger trucks and recreational vehicles. A solution to this problem has been proposed to convert these commonly diesel engines to burn ethanol, a specific distillation of corn oil. However, this is not a viable solution. According to Pimentel (1998), the production of corn for this purpose represents a tremendous output of resources for the returns. In the United States, “to produce an average of 120 bushels of corn per acre using conventional production technology requires more than 140 gallons of gasoline equivalents and costs about $280” (Pimentel, 1998) more than 10 years ago. It is likely a comparable ratio would be achieved in China. These figures may require some adjustment due to advancements in production techniques, but not likely to be significant enough to offer a suitable replacement fuel. In addition, the burning of corn oil still represents the burning of carbon-based fuel. Though cleaner, it does not sufficiently address the problem. In spite of these problems, there is reason to hope that a developing nation such as China can achieve a cleaner, more environmentally friendly future perhaps even quicker than fully developed nations if they begin working now to replace their infrastructure with better alternatives as they become available. “It has been pointed out that less developed nations have much less invested in carbon dependency, and can start now with the more advanced energy infrastructure, and ‘leapfrog’ today’s industrialized countries into a new age of more efficient and cleaner energy” (Rockwell, 1998). Although it is unlikely at this point that China will be able to avoid the costs of clean up that other, less developed nations can save by quitting carbon dependency now, the country will have a chance to clean water supplies and will save healthcare and loss of labor to respiratory disease related conditions. Although there are no perfect solutions on their own, a combination of several approaches can go a long way toward reducing the country’s dependence on coal. Rockwell (1998) lists several viable solutions including wind, solar, hydrogen fuel cells, tidal energy, hydropower, renewable biomass and even nuclear power. Wind power can be used in many parts of the country to largely replace the use of fossil fuels, particularly when augmented with solar power. It could significantly reduce or perhaps even replace factory and vehicle burning of fossil fuels, cutting out half of the CO2 gasses being released into the atmosphere while still remaining viable to a materially-conscious population. With improvements in the technology used to harness wind power and collect electricity, wind power was reported in 2003 to have dropped from the 30 cents per kWh in the 1980s to a more competitive 3 to 6 cents per kWh (GAO, 2004), a process that could easily be reproduced in China’s grid. “In the United States, a wind turbine with generating capacity of 2 megawatts, placed on a tower situated on a farm, ranch or other rural land, can generate enough electricity in a year – about 6 million kilowatt hours – to serve the needs of 500 to 600 average U.S. households” (GAO, 2004). Thus, enough wind turbines might be reasonably equipped to replace fossil-fuels as the country’s main source of energy. “One oil company has predicted a near future in which one-half to two-thirds of the energy now derived from fossil fuels comes instead from renewable energy sources” (Rockwell, 1998). This would be a significant reduction in air pollutants creating a healthier environment for workers and greater production results at all levels. The problem of air pollution in China is going to require a much more significant effort to solve than what has been done thus far. Although some measures have been effective in holding air pollution levels at a relatively stable level, shifting weather patterns and air and water quality testing have proven that these levels remain unacceptably high. Increased levels of pollution will only continue to create problems in the weather systems while also contaminating more of the fresh water supply. As the country continues to develop, the population will continue to expand, placing more strain on the natural resources, requiring more energy to see to their needs, adding more vehicles to the roadways and contributing to the development of more industries with their own energy demands. To continue relying on coal as the chief form of energy for homes and factories is suicidal as evidenced by the high numbers of citizens dying prematurely from respiratory ailments. The time to make changes is now, while China has still not invested too much money into the development of coal plants. Instead, the country should be investing in new forms of sustainable energy development such as windmills, solar power generators and other forms of energy production. While these technologies may not be fully capable of replacing coal in all areas on their own, a combined approach using several or all available technologies could significantly reduce the amount of carbon output, particularly around the most heavily polluted urban areas. At the same time, it would demonstrate to the world China’s example of a moral and forward-thinking country in tune with its natural environment and sustainable growth.   References “400,000 People in China Die Prematurely From Air Pollution Annually.” Terra Daily. (October 25, 2005). Abernethy, V. D. Chapter 1, Framing the Issues. Population Politics: The Choices that Shape our Future.  New York: Plenum Press, 1993. Alles, David. “Asian Air Pollution.” Western Washington University. (2009). Bradley, Ray & Philip Jones. Chapters 10 & 11. Climate Since AD 1500.   New York: Routledge, 1995. Breuer, Georg. Air in Danger: Ecological Perspectives of the Atmosphere. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1980. “China’s Health and Environment: Air Pollution and Health Effects.” World Resources Institute. Washington D.C., 1999. “China Says Air Pollution Worsening.” Physorg. (July 27, 2010). GAO.  Renewable Energy: Wind Power’s Contribution to Electric Power Generation and Impact on Farms and Rural Communities. Report to the Ranking Democratic Member, Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, U.S. Senate.  Washington D.C.: United States Government Accountability Office, September 2004. Harrison, J. The carbon cycle: What goes around comes around. (2003). Kelly, Mick.  “The Causes of Climate Change.”  Climatic Research Unit.  (2000). Pimentel, D.  “Energy and Dollar Costs of Ethanol Production with Corn.”  Hubbert Center Newsletter.  Vol. 98, I. 2.  M, King Hubbert Center for Petroleum Supply Studies. (1998). Rockwell, Richard, C.  “From A Carbon Economy To A Mixed Economy: A Global Opportunity.”  Consequences.  Vol. 4, N. 1, (1998).  Trenberth, Kevin E. “Global Warming: It’s Happening.”  National Center for Atmospheric Research. (1997).   Read More