December 29, 2013
The New York Times reports that the air pollution, originating in China, can affect the air quality in Korea, Japan and even the United States.
According to the new research quoted by the
NYT, fin-particle pollutants from China have been found in other
countries and, depending on the city, between 40 percent and 60 percent
of pollution found in Japan originated in China. It is estimated that
China's emissions also contribute to ozone layer depletion in the
neighboring countries.
Although the distance between the
US and China acts as a form of protection, the people living on the
West Coast can still be exposed to pollutants coming from China with the
transpacific air currents. The risk of exposure grows with altitude of
the residence, but it is still quite small. Scientists are concerned
that the problem will become more serious in the future and therefore it
should be tackled now, before it becomes a major ecologic threat.
China
is the world biggest market for coal, relies on coal-fired power plants
for most of its growing energy production and has very lax
environmental standards. Attempts at imposing higher standards have been
met with fierce resistance, because higher environmental costs will
have a negative influence on the country's economy that needs to grow at
least 7 percent per year in order to maintain social stability. Paul
Harris, the chair professor of global and environmental studies at the
Hong Kong Institute of Education, told the New York Times in an email
that other countries have very limited possibilities in regard to
changing the pollution situation in China.
One of the
options would be to pay China for upgrading its environmental standards,
but most Americans would reject such a solution. Threatening China is
useless, while starting a "commercial war" with China may be dangerous
for the US economy. Sadly, the only viable option is to wait until the
levels of pollution in mainland China become highly uncomfortable
forcing Beijing to enact tougher environmental regulations for the good
of the Chinese citizens.