Environmental Outlook: Air Pollution In China
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2013-03-05/environmental-outlook-air-pollution-china
For this month's Environmental Outlook: China is said to be literally choking on its own success. The World Health Organization says an Air Quality Index rating above 300 is hazardous. The U.S. Embassy in Beijing has a pollution monitor that shows the city regularly exceeds 500. By comparison, the air quality index in Los Angeles is typically in the 20s. Chinese factories operate 24/7 and the prevalence of automobiles has skyrocketed. The worsening pollution impelled the Chinese government to issue an emergency warning about the air in Beijing for the first time. But much more needs to be done. Diane and her guests discuss the air pollution crisis in China.
Guests
Kenneth Lieberthal
senior fellow and director of the John L. Thornton China Center at Brookings Institution. He's co-author of "Barack Obama: Barack Obama's Foreign Policy."
Yanzhong Huang
senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Jennifer Turner
director of the China Environment Forum at The Woodrow Wilson Center.
Comments
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I lived in Shanghai in 97-98. The first 5 minutes if each rainshower made black spots on our clothes from the rain clearing out the pollution in the air.
Diane, I appreciate this discussion of air pollution in China. I wish you'd cover air pollution in the U.S. and Europe of chem-trails, aerosol spraying of aluminum and barium and micro-organisms, that are insidiously polluting our air, water, and soil and which no one in government will even admit is happening. Or is this topic off limits? Probably.
Speaking for the Circle of Blue team, it's an honor to work with Jennifer and her crew at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars' China Environment Forum, our partners in the on-going "Choke Point" series that explores the intersections between water, food, and energy. Diane, I would love to see you and your panel today make a connection between air pollution and water pollution. Some of your panelists have talked about the common denominator — climate-changing greenhouse gases from coal and other fossil fuel energy — but nobody has made that direct link that it's not just air that becomes polluted, but also water. On today's topic of pollution, check out Circle of Blue's China water pollution gallery published last week, our January article on how toxic water is being used to irrigate and grow food in China, our infographic on the relation between pollution events & policy changes in China, and our interactive map on pollution in China's seven major rivers. Thanks Diane, Jennifer, and panel for covering this very important topic!
I was in China for 3 weeks in 2000 - starting in Shanghai and ending in Beijing. My boyfriend and I ran in each of the cities/areas we visited and, when we got to Beijing, saw a ranking of the most polluted Chinese cities. We quizzed each other and were spot on with our own ranking based on how bad the air seemed on our runs. It scares me to think it's so much worse now - it was awful 13 years ago!
I worked in BJ in 2007. Although the sky was never Carolina blue, pollution was rarely so bad as to be visible from ground level. I had asthmatic co-workers and family members visit with no ill effects. And most Chinese tourist attractions - the Bell and Drum towers, the Great Wall, Fragrant Hills, etc., involve steep and apparently endless flights of stairs. So even though we didn't jog through BJ, we did get a fair amount of exercise at times.
As remarked, China has been moving coal-fired factories and power plants out for decades - I had a smokestack across the street from where I lived. But by now there must be none left. Car registrations are rationed in BJ, and a system based on license plate numbers allows one to drive only on alternate days. How is pollution so much worse now that 6 years ago?
The U.S. has long been using China's increasing greenhouse gas emissions as an excuse for not doing anything about its own far greater responsibility for much higher historical and current per capita greenhouse gas emissions. The comment by Mr. Lieberthal of the Brookings Institution seems to continue that lack of responsibility shown by the U.S., despite having agreed in the 1992 climate treaty to act first to reduce its emissions.
China's coal power is, of course, very dirty and is a problem not just for China's cities, but for all of us due to its effect on the climate. Sadly, matters will be made worse if the US permits the Keystone XL Pipeline. This may help China's urban polution problem, but it will make the polution problem for all of us worse.
I really do not think that the Pipeline has anything to do with the China air pollution discussion and in fact I believe the pipeline would actually help the environment.
Here is the simple argument, by bringing oil directly from Canada via pipelines we can bypass several environmental hazards and cut down on pollution. First, all of the largest environmental disasters involving oil have been on the seas so we can eliminate this right off. The next point to think about is how much pollution and energy we will save as opposed to bringing the oil from the middle east. If you were to weigh both of these factors together I think you would wonder why so many people are against the pipeline. By the way, I have nothing to do with the pipeline, Canada tar sands or any other company involved.
I am interested in how the population escapes the pollution on a periodic or permanent basis. Are there better places to live and are there good places to go on vacation and be in a safer environment?
You can visit China and not experience bad air quality! My family lived in Kunming City, Yunnan Province, in 2010 and 2011. I fully recommend a trip to this province. It's in south-west China, bordering on Tibet and the Himalayas as well as Laos, Vietnam, and Burma. Yunnan has so much to see, with Han and minority cultures represented, in addition to a variety of landforms and unique flora and fauna.