Air pollution has many and profound impacts on a large variety of both social and environmental issues. The continued decline of China's air quality has firstly and foremost affected the lives of the average Chinese citizen. In the worst days of winter, going outside of one's home imposes a great health hazard on the Chinese citizen, especially if they do not have protective gear. However, what is the qualitative measure of exactly how bad China's air quality is? This is explained through the relatively new system of measuring particulate matter. The accepted way to measure air quality is to measure the 'particulate matter' - a sample of air is taken, and the amount of dust particles with a diameter of less than a certain restriction is measured, and moderated against the volume of air in cubic metres [2].
“According to the EPA, a reading above three hundred and one designates an extremely hazardous emergency situation. On January 12, 2013, the US Embassy’s reading was seven hundred and fifty-five”
The statement above was based on a study by the EPA and included into the study, regarding the city of Beijing. It shows that at Beijing on January 12 2013, the PM in the air was dramatically higher than even what the EPA declares as emergency situation - at a incredible high of seven hundred and fifty five dust particles per cubic metre [1], the implications of these dust 'clouds' affect all aspects of life for the average Chinese citizen. This site will further discuss the impacts of poor air quality on three main areas - Health, the Environment, and the Economy.
Further information is discussed more in-depth in the sub-sections.
“According to the EPA, a reading above three hundred and one designates an extremely hazardous emergency situation. On January 12, 2013, the US Embassy’s reading was seven hundred and fifty-five”
The statement above was based on a study by the EPA and included into the study, regarding the city of Beijing. It shows that at Beijing on January 12 2013, the PM in the air was dramatically higher than even what the EPA declares as emergency situation - at a incredible high of seven hundred and fifty five dust particles per cubic metre [1], the implications of these dust 'clouds' affect all aspects of life for the average Chinese citizen. This site will further discuss the impacts of poor air quality on three main areas - Health, the Environment, and the Economy.
Further information is discussed more in-depth in the sub-sections.
References:
- EPA. (2013). Particulate Matter. Available: http://www.epa.gov/airquality/particlepollution/index.html. Last accessed 9th Oct 2014.
- Riviera, G. (2013). Pollution in China - The Business of Bad Air.