Catalina Chernavvsky Sequeira for People's Daily

Daily Smog Alerts: Pollution Slowly Destroying the Chinese Dream

By Catalina Chernavvsky Sequeira in Baltimore (People’s Daily)

While carbon dioxide emissions have posed various problems for China in the past few years, the effects of pollution on the nation have reached a whole new level. Smog has lead to predicaments such as rapidly increasing traffic jams on expressways, blind landings of planes on runways, as well as many flight cancellations, to name a few. When figuring out who is to blame for the increasing pollution in Chinese cities, one must consider who is really responsible, if one country is manufacturing goods that are to be consumed by another country across the world.

Attempts to reduce carbon emissions should focus on decreasing the use of coal to generate electricity. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change noted that China, along with the rest of the world, has almost doubled their carbon emissions rate, mainly to generate electricity. While manufacturing is rapidly becoming more efficient, energy production must be reevaluated in order to prevent more climate issues.

Aside from carbon emissions, progress is being made to somewhat reduce the effects of smog in Beijing and surrounding areas. The Civil Aviation Authority is requiring pilots of almost all planes to be trained in performing blind landings. Beginning in 2014, pilots will be required to use instrument-landing systems on days of heavy smog, when visibility is only about 400 meters. This problem will be solved quickly due to technology that has already been used by several nations that have endured the same dilemma, and is simply being promoted in China for the time being while smog persists.

China has also seen a decrease in the amount of smog in the atmosphere due to the citizens’ quiet support after the government encouraged them to use fewer fireworks as they celebrated the Lunar New Year. The call for fewer fireworks spread through online platforms and all over social media websites. The nation called for other means of celebration by using electronic substitutes and flowers to replace the traditional fireworks. The government then expressed its gratitude to citizens in a public letter on January 31. Although this helped reduce smog during the New Year celebration, the move towards cleaner air and cooperation of citizens with the government must continue if the nation wishes to see significant progress when it comes to eliminating air pollution.

The Chinese government is helping its citizens in all the ways it can, but air pollution continues to be a detrimental issue due to increased manufacturing. In the past two months, there have been so many school closings, highway closings, and flight cancellations in various cities including Shanghai and Nanjing that the issue has reached national news. The smog is also creating more health issues for citizens. For example, air pollution has led to an increase in the number of people with cardiovascular or respiratory diseases.

Other nations are also likewise addressing the problem of pollution and its worldwide effects. What remains to be considered, however, is that the pressure of other developed nations on China to continue to be the manufacturing nation of the world keeps the government from addressing the issue of air pollution immediately.