China and Smog Problem
China And Its Smog Problem.
Problems involving the environment are occurring everyday, all over the world. Things like Acid Rain, Air Pollution, Global Warming, Hazardous Waste, Ozone Depletion, Smog, Water Pollution, Overpopulation, and Rain Forest Destruction, are some of the many problems faced by our planet today.
China, (People's Republic of China), is situated in eastern Asia, bounded by the Pacific in the east. The capital, Beijing, currently has nearly 15 million inhabitants. There has been a growing environmental problem for China as years progressed, its problem is smog, and the smog has acted like a blanket and has covered most of Beijing. Oil- and especially coal-burning factories are the main culprits of the current smog problem.
The population of china fluctuated between 60-110 million in the past 2000 years. However in the past few years China's population has risen significantly, it is estimated that its population is around 1,284,303,705 (July 2004 EST.). This boom in population has many negative effects on the environment of china, the people of China are consuming more and more, its industries are burning massive quantities of oil and coal, and this in time has caused China to become covered in a blanket of smog. More and more of the Chinese people are buying and using cars, this adds to the use of precious raw materials such as petrol, which also adds to the actual smog problem. Electricity is used at extremely high levels; factories need to therefore burn more coal to produce more electricity. Burning of coal is by far the main cause for the smog in China, "Coal is the traditional fuel for heating and cooking in many Chinese cities. It is low grade substance and high in sulphur. When burned, it coats surrounding surfaces with a noxious grey dust". (Duncan Hewitt, BBC News). Friday, 17 November, 2000, China's environmental challenge, Available at: (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/asia_pacific/1027824.stm) [Date viewed 19th April
Problems involving the environment are occurring everyday, all over the world. Things like Acid Rain, Air Pollution, Global Warming, Hazardous Waste, Ozone Depletion, Smog, Water Pollution, Overpopulation, and Rain Forest Destruction, are some of the many problems faced by our planet today.
China, (People's Republic of China), is situated in eastern Asia, bounded by the Pacific in the east. The capital, Beijing, currently has nearly 15 million inhabitants. There has been a growing environmental problem for China as years progressed, its problem is smog, and the smog has acted like a blanket and has covered most of Beijing. Oil- and especially coal-burning factories are the main culprits of the current smog problem.
The population of china fluctuated between 60-110 million in the past 2000 years. However in the past few years China's population has risen significantly, it is estimated that its population is around 1,284,303,705 (July 2004 EST.). This boom in population has many negative effects on the environment of china, the people of China are consuming more and more, its industries are burning massive quantities of oil and coal, and this in time has caused China to become covered in a blanket of smog. More and more of the Chinese people are buying and using cars, this adds to the use of precious raw materials such as petrol, which also adds to the actual smog problem. Electricity is used at extremely high levels; factories need to therefore burn more coal to produce more electricity. Burning of coal is by far the main cause for the smog in China, "Coal is the traditional fuel for heating and cooking in many Chinese cities. It is low grade substance and high in sulphur. When burned, it coats surrounding surfaces with a noxious grey dust". (Duncan Hewitt, BBC News). Friday, 17 November, 2000, China's environmental challenge, Available at: (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/asia_pacific/1027824.stm) [Date viewed 19th April