Air pollution in China

Bi Yuqi (2)
 

Now a days, many countries import goods from China. Especially in Singapore, we can always find daily used objects such as a ruler or a pencil case, printed with three words, "made in China". Initially, there were many companies and factories in China, hence, there are many imports from China and this resulted in an further rapid increase of factories and industries. However, this is only one of the reasons, there are many other factors such as cheap labour, cheap rental, competitive exchange rates, so on and so forth. So we can imagine the amount of pollutants emitted through the chimneys of the factories while producing all the goods to import to other countries. Well, even though all the things you buy are made in China, but for the Chinese citizens, wearing masks to every place they go has become a habit... Not only 16 of the world's 20 most polluted cities are in China, many neighboring countries are affected such as Japan and South Korea. Hundreds of thousands of people died a year in China simply because of air pollution. 

I think that maybe China can earn lots of money for the mass production, but the resulting in deaths and health problems of the citizens is not worthwhile. I believe the air pollution will cause many other negative impacts too. For me, I believe that tourism will definitely be affected greatly, tourists will not be willing to go to a polluted country which is dangerous. Also, wearing a mask to school or the work places actually demands for more mask production across the whole of China., which can worsen the problem. Hence I think that China should take more measures to prevent the situation from worsening, the increase in deaths and health problems. The good news is : China has achieved some improvements in environmental protection during the recent years. According to the World Bank, 'China is one of a few countries in the world that have been rapidly increasing their forest cover. It is managing to reduce air and water pollution."

Tee Hui Shi (17)

China had been pursuing higher economic growth but the negative consequences of the economic growth was the escalating pollution due to industrialisation. In order for the economic of china to grow, there are increase in the rate of importations to other countries which lead to mass production of products and numerous factories. The factories severed the environmental issues in china such as water pollution. For example, in 2008, China began an era of infrastructure and real estate construction campaign. Factories dump their chemical emissions into river, or inject it into the groundwater. This practice is so widespread that many rivers in northern China are dry, with many rivers in southern China being polluted to the point of toxicity. The complete ruin of rivers and forests in many parts of China underscores the current severe pollution. Hence, I think that China should focus more on saving the environment they lived in as there were definitely more impact than what I had stated due to industrialisation. 

Tee Sze Min (18)

The Ministry of Environmental Protection data shows that air quality is up to standard in less than 10% of Chinese cities. This is actually due to the aim of China pursuing higher economic growth. Many things of which we posses are imported from China, thus this leads to industrialization when more factories and industries are being built for producing goods to sell in order to gain profits. For example, For example, textile-dye waste water produced by clothing factories creates a major water pollution problem in China. Air pollution is also resulted as different pollutants are emitted into the air through chimneys of factories. In my opinion, China should focus on alleviating the pollution due to industrialization in China. This is because health should be placed first as with escalating pollution, the death rate will increase due to health problems. Also, tourists will not travel to China as there is a risk of getting health problems. Moreover, one needs to be healthy to work and help the country to earn money. Having one's life affected by pollution is not worth it. Thus, China should implement measures to improve the situation.

Chai Yi Meng (21)

According to the Chinese Ministry of Health, industrial pollution has made cancer China’s leading cause of death.

Every year, ambient air pollution alone killed hundreds of thousands of citizens and 500 million people in China are without safe and clean drinking water. These are all the causes of pursuing higher economic growth. I think the impact which led to many deaths are not worth it as lives are more important than money. If there are no lives, there would not be money so I think keeping environment clean is more important.

Law Ming Han (26)

Lung cancer and cardiovascular disease were increasing because of factory and vehicle air pollution and tobacco smoking. Lung cancer was two to three times more common in cities than in the countryside despite similar rates of tobacco smoking. Measurements in January 2013 showed levels of air pollution, as measured by the density of particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometres in size, was literally off the chart – higher than the maximum 755 μg the US Embassy's equipment can measure. All these are pollution caused by industrialization. Due to China's pursue in higher economic growth, China is currently on the brink of overtaking the economy of the United States. But the price for higher economic growth is pollution. China has to sacrifice either the health of the people or the economic growth, that's why China is in a dilemma between pursuing higher economic growth and escalating pollution due to the industrialization for economic growth. In my opinion, I think that the health of the people is more important than the economic growth because money means nothing when your health is in bad shape.