Anastasiya Stolyarova for The New York Times

Chinese Emissions Causing Pacific Pollution

by Anastasiya Stolyarova for The New York Times

Within the past month, China has suffered the worst air quality conditions in history. In Beijing, the Air Quality Index (AQI) had reached a high of 775, surpassing the 500-point scale. In an attempt to curtail more unnecessary pollution, government officials are even urging citizens to halt the usage of fireworks in celebration of the Chinese New Year.

China’s severe air pollution can be directly linked to its large dependence on coal. China uses more coal than any other nation in the world, with 70% of its power supplied by coal. Air pollution grows rapidly during the colder months, when coal-powered heating systems are initiated. The large consumption of fossil fuels in China is also paired with weak air quality regulations.

China’s pollution has caused devastating effects on the health of its citizens. 1.2 million premature deaths were caused due to air pollution in 2010. Despite the lack of growth in national smoking rates, lung cancer rates have increased by 465% in the past three decades.

Furthermore, Chinese agricultural produce has been contaminated. Some of the agricultural fields are irrigated with water tainted by industrial waste. One-sixth of China’s farmable land has soil pollution, including heavy metal contamination and pesticides.

Unfortunately, China is not the only country being negatively affected by their pollution. Sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide, mercury, and soot are emitted into the air, largely from coal plants. These pollutants, some also large contributors to climate change, are transported  from China to other nations by global winds. These global winds, called Westerlies, are able to carry pollutants across the Pacific within days.

China’s neighboring country, Japan, has already been severely impacted. In the springtime, 10-20% of the ozone in Japan comes from Chinese emissions. In addition, China contributes up to 40% of annual fine-particle pollution in the Japanese capital of Tokyo.

Although relatively small compared to others, Chinese pollutants have already affected the west coast of the U.S. In 2006, sulfur dioxide concentration had increased from 3 to 10% due to Chinese emissions. The increased pollution also caused one extra day of smog that exceeded federal ozone limits in Los Angeles.

Manufacturing of American goods in China is a significant contributor to the pollution being received in the U.S., since American companies have outsourced most of their production to China in order to escape minimum wage laws and other regulations. On days with strong prevailing winds, 12 to 24% of sulfate-based air pollution in the west coast originally comes from China. Almost a fifth of manufacturing emissions in China come from producing exports to the U.S.

In light of the conspicuous health and environmental implications, China is aiming to take action. Officials have announced that $817 billion dollars will be spent to significantly cut air pollution by 2017. On days when the smog is particularly bad, China orders a reduction of car travel. However, attempts at environmental reform do have a history of being ignored by state-owned businesses and provincial officials. The new air pollution agenda only plans for a 2% decrease in overall coal consumption, a seemingly inadequate percentage when it comes to the crisis at hand.