Acknowledgement:

I would like to thank our course instructor Joel Hawkes.His guidance and lectures made it easier to write of this research paper. Besides, I had interviews with some of my friends. Their view was invaluable in doing the primary research.

Abstract:

Overall, the research paper is about the effect of air pollution on China’s economy, health and its possible solutions. The dissertation is divided into ten parts. The first part is the introduction, which a general overview of the topic-“Air pollution: The case of China.” The second part gives some fundamentals knowledge about air pollution. The next three parts discuss the area of research, methodology and hypothesis. After that the most essential part of the research paper is presented: secondary research findings and interpretation. Finally, based on the findings, recommendations and conclusion is written off. Throughout the dissertation, MLA style citation has been used.

Table of contents:

Topic Page number

Introduction 3

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Fundamentals of Air pollution 3-4

Area of Research 5

Methodology 5

Hypothesis 5

Research Analysis and Interpretation 5-8

Conclusion 8

Work cited 9

Introduction:

According to Vallero, air pollution is “the presence of contaminants or pollutant substances in the air that interfere with human health or welfare, or produce other harmful environmental effects.”(3)

The above statement is indeed true in case of China. The presence of harmful particles in air such as nitrous dioxide has increased a lot in the last decade there (Bump). The increased rate of air pollution has caused severe health and economic losses to China. According to a scientific data, air pollution has caused 1.2 million premature deaths in China, which is two-fifth of global total (Wong).Another data from the World Bank mentions that out

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of 338 monitored cities in China,225 are overly polluted(qtd. In Ho and Nielson 13).

The economic damage to China due to air pollution is also significant. Due to large number of health damages, China incurred an economy loss of 4112 billion in the year 2005(Ekstrom).

Therefore, it is essential to establish some policies keep China a flourished country in terms of health and economy. One of them is “green” taxes. Green taxes can lessen harmful emissions and thus cut health damages. In the long run it will improve economic growth (Ho and Nielson 1).

Fundamentals of Air Pollution:

Before discussing air pollution, let’s know what clean air is. Clean air does not consist of harmful particles like nitrous oxide and carbon-mono-oxide. Due to burning of fossil fuels, industrial wastages overuse of fuel run cars, ignition of forest more harmful particles are emitted in air. Thus air becomes polluted (Miller and Willard 6, 11).

In the book “Fundamentals of Air Pollution”, Vallero mentioned the following sources of air pollution (314):

Industrial sources: Industries that manufactures raw materials and convert products to other products e.g. gasoline from crude oil, automobile bodies from steel etc.

Utilities: Examples include – coal fired electric generating plant, poorly designed sewage treatment plant.

Personal sources: Examples include automobiles, home fireplaces and stoves, backyard barbecue grills etc.

Combustion: It is the rapid reaction of a chemical substance with oxygen which produces many air pollutants such as oxides of sulfur, metal oxides, fly ash, metal salts etc.

Petroleum and coal: In the process of obtaining petroleum from coal hydrocarbons and sulfur gaseous emissions occur. By the way, coal itself is considered the worst fuels for the production of greenhouse gases.

The short term effects of air pollution are many, such as: health damage, vegetation damage, acid rain etc. The long term effect is global climate change. Earth has already began facing climate changes. The amount of CO2 has skyrocketed by 25% since 1850, mentions Vallero, he also says that “the average temperature of the earth is difficult to measure, but most measurements show a very small overall change that would not be detectable due to short term and regional variations (442).

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34% 15%

48%146%

Green house gasesHalocarbonsNitrous oxideMethaneCarbon dioxide

Figure: The pie-chart above shows contribution of well mixed greenhouse gases(Vallero 447).If the emissions of such gases can be controlled, then global green house effect can be minimized.

Area of research:

This dissertation paper mainly focus on the air pollution of China.

Methodology:

Secondary research was conducted to write off the dissertation. The sources used are:

Three books Three online news articles One academic articles Three You-tube videos An online published interview with China’s deputy minister

Hypothesis:

Secondary research is made on the following topics:

Air pollution is causing large number of health damages in China. Air pollution is putting a dent in China’s economy. Establishing green taxes or carbon credit systems might be the

solution of the above two problems.

Research Analysis and interpretation:

China’s air pollution is rising rapidly due to the fast growth of population, resulting in an adverse affect on health (Kira, Nam, Selin, Lamsal, Reilly and Paltsev).According to some research, air pollution is the leading cause of respiratory disease there. Particulates such as nitrous dioxide, sulfur dioxide and PM 10 are in high concentrations in many cities of China (Nielson and Ho 1; Wong).There are many sources causing this pollution. They are burgeoning transportation sector, residential heating, and light industry-most of it is produced by power plants and heavy industry. The level of TSP in residential areas is 200, however, 90 is considered the safe zone according

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to World Health Organization (Nielson and Ho 1).A news report mentions that air pollution resulted in 350,000 to 400,000 premature deaths in China each year. Another study by Organic for Economic Cooperation and Development predicted that urban air pollution will be cause about 3.6 million deaths in China each year in future (Wong). Therefore, it is a major concern for China and proper steps should be taken to stop it.

Some YouTube videos from BBC news present some hazardous conditions of some cities in China. One scene of a video shows that people using medicines to clean their food from polluted particles in the village of Linfen, which is considered as the most polluted place on earth. A similar other video from BBC indicates that coal combustion is the main to blame for this huge air pollution. As the reporter says, “Try not to take a deep breath in the village of Goregaon, as it might end up making you ill or even kill you.”This statement clearly indicates how bad the situation is there (Protectorravids and Vice).

YouTube also have some Chinese media videos telling about the condition there: One news report by NTD says that air pollution responsible for huge number of deaths each year. It is also responsible for economic losses of about $1.08 billion in the year 2012.PM 2.5 particles, which is less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, are considered as the most harmful one. Most of these particles come from burning coal. When inhaled these particles can cause many diseases like lung cancer, tuberculosis etc.If these particles could be lowered in China, death rate will be lowered by 81% and economic losses will be reduced by $868 million(NTDonChina).

Though China’s economy is developing but the rate of growth could be faster if pollutants level could be lowered. As the health of people is affected, productivity is also affected, so in the long run, economy declines (Ekstrom).As in an interview, the China’s deputy minister Yue says that it is losing between 8 and 15 % of GDP due to pollution, excluding the costs for health (Spiegel).

Hence, policies should be imposed to keep the GDP growth in flow and prevent health damages. According to Ho and Nielson, “imposing moderate taxes on fuels could reduce health damages by 11%, while lowering gross domestic product (GDP) only by less than 0.1% and aggregate consumption by 0.1% in the short run. Several policies can be imposed (332). The effective ways are discussed below:

Green taxes such as output tax policy and fuel tax policy can be established. Research is made and it is found that in the first year: the fuel tax policy raises the price of coal by 13 %, leading to increased use of cleaner oil and gases as a source of energy. So the amount emissions of PM and SO2 fall by 10% ,CO2 by 9.1%5 and Nitrous dioxide by 0.9%.Whereas,the output tax policy is imposed heavily on electricity, modestly on mineral products,

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transportation and a small tax on transportation. As a result coal combustion falls by 3.9%, PM concentration in air fall by 3.8% and SO2 concentration go down by 4.7 %( Cao, Ho and Jargenson 15, 16).

According to research, the effect of both the polices on environment and economy in year 1 is tabulated below:

Fuel tax policy % Output tax policy %GDP -0.12 -0.01Consumption -0.17 -0.29Investment 0.18 0.46Coal Use -12.0 -3.9Oil use -0.38 -0.84CO2 emissions -9.1 -3.1TSP from combustion -10.3 -3.8SO2 emissions -10.3 -4.7Nitrous dioxide emissions

-0.85 -1.8

Premature emissions -9.3 -2.9Value of health damages

-9.1 -3.1

Change in other tax rates

-2.1 -7.2

Reduction in damages/GDP

0.15 0.05

Total tax revenue 1.83 7.16

From the table above, we can see that fuel tax policy is more effective at decreasing health damages, premature deaths and maintain a healthy fluctuation of GDP. Hence, tax on fuels based on their ecological reimbursement is a very efficient system, as it reduces pollution significantly and at modest cost to consumption.

Conclusion:

According to various secondary sources, it can be finally concluded that air pollution is a big concern for China.PM, SO2, and nitrous dioxide are the main intoxicated particles found in the air of China. They mainly come from the combustion of coal. Coal is a major energy source of China. And its economy relies heavily on it. Till now, China is focusing more on its economy growth than its environmental issues. However, if it continues to do so, in the long run its economy will be affected tremendously. Because many people there are losing their health and even dying prematurely. As productivity of people decline due to environmental issues, the rate of economy growth is actually slower. Therefore, by implementing green tax polices health and economic damages can be cut significantly.

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Works Cited (MLA Style):

Bump, Philip.”China’s deadly air pollution is already up 30% this year.”The Atlantic Wire. The Atlantic Wire, 3 April .2013.Web. 3rd June.2013.

Cao, Jing, Mun S. Ho and Dale W.Jorgenson.”The Local and Global Benefits of Green Tax Policies in China” Oxford Journals 3.2 (2009): n.pag.Web.4th June 2013.

Ekstrom, Vicki.”China’s pollution put a dent in its economy.”MIT news.MIT News, 13 February .2012.Web. 3rd June.2013.

Ho S,,Mun and Nielsen P., Chris, ed. Clearing the Air: The Health and Economic Damages of Air Pollution in China. London: The MIT press Cambridge, 2007. Print.

NTDonChina.”Air Pollution in China Causes Thousands of Deaths in Major Cities.” Spiegel.Spiegel, 2010.Web. 4th June 2013.

Ponting, Clive. A New Green History of the World: The Environment and the Collapse of Great Civilizations.USA: Penguin Books, 2007.Print.

Protectterravids.”China’s Massive Air Pollution – BBC News.”Online video clip. YouTube.Youtube, January 5.2010.Web.4th June 2013.

Vallero, Daniel. Fundamentals of Air Pollution. London: Elsevier, 2008. Print.

Vice.”The Devastating Effects of Pollution in China-Part 1.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, December 13.2012.Web.4th June 2013.

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Wong, Edward.”Air pollution linked to 1, 2 million premature deaths in China.”The New York Times. The New York Times, 1 April .2013.Web. 3rd June.2013.

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