Air Pollution in China-LEDC
China is a country that suffers from the environmental issue of air pollution. After the 1970’s, china saw the beginnings of its economic success. The fast pace of economic success resulted to higher living standards, at the cost of turning the country into the world’s number one factory. China built its success by using abundance of its natural resources. It is one of the top energy users in the world; therefore it is also one of the top contributors of air pollution globally.
Today, much of China's environment is a collection of fog-filled atmosphere, smoggy cities, polluted rivers and coastal waters and a population at grave risk of death and respiratory illnesses especially the Chinese children. About 656,000 deaths are associated with air pollution, 400,000 of which are premature deaths while respiratory affliction reaches a figure of 20 million annually most of them children. China has the highest mortality rate in the world, predicting that 36.7 out of 100,000 of china’s asthma sufferers will not survive.
China consumes about 1.9 billion tons of coal annually to supply about 75% of the country’s energy demand. Greenhouse gases are emitted during the country’s coal burning activities: CO2, mercury, arsenic, sulphur dioxide plus great amounts of particulate matter. Combustion of vehicle engines also produce nitrogen dioxide and benzene whilst 70% of china’s households use coal as their cooking and heating implements.
The air pollution in China has many effects. Respiratory, cancer and heart diseases related to air pollution are the leading causes of death in china. Acid rain falls on 30% of the country. China’s environmental laws are among the strictest in the world but enforcing these laws has been difficult in China. The world health organisation has found that around 750,000 people die early each year due to respiratory problems in china.
The air pollution in China is a major problem. It is causing many health risks to...