Stuck in the Smog

This is a video I did for my internship at City Weekend, here in Shanghai:  

   

Article Version:

Is China Stuck in the Smog?

Now under the rule of Chinese President Xi Jinping, China has the second-biggest economy, behind the U.S., according to the Wall Street Journal. China is also the world’s most populated country even with the “one-child policy,” according to the World Population Review.

But, an unprecedented amount of air pollution in China has caused the central government to place environmental concerns over economic ones. In September, at the 18^th Air Pollution Control Conference in Beijing, the government initiated a new goal of reducing the amount of air pollutants by 10% by 2017, according to CNN.

One of these pollutants is coal. The World Coal Association states that China relies on the fossil fuel for 70 to 80% of their energy needs, the most in the world. The government plans to stop the production of coal in power plants located in heavily polluted cities, CNN says.

However, Nitin Dani, president of the nonprofit GreenDrinks, believes that the amount is going to increase. He says: “Everyone wants the latest smart phone, the latest TV. Some of them might be energy-saving, but a lot of them are very energy-intensive. A lot of the things in the past you could do without energy, but you need these things now, right? So, I mean, I think one of the main reasons is definitely the change in lifestyle if you look at it from an individual level, but from an industrial level, products, services…they are all increasing. Population is increasing. “

Shanghai, China’s and the world’s most populous city, has reached an unhealthy amount of PM 2.5 in their air. Lately, they have been at a 169 reading, according to the Real-time Air Quality Index, which puts Shanghai on equal ground as Beijing.

Ping Zhuang of the International Fund for China’s Environment, talks about what makes up the air pollution. “In China, the primary contributing factors for PM 2.5 are largely because the increasing amount of vehicles. Actually, Shanghai in a way is better than Beijing, but still Shanghai everyday is increasing the amount of vehicles. The emissions from the exhaust, and also many factories, and also many construction sites always stir up pollutants.”

He adds, “And it use to be PM 10, larger particles, now 2.5, meaning because the smaller particles can actually go through your lungs, you know, stay there. You walk in the streets, one day you come down and your collar is like black.”

An average of five and a half years has been reduced from the life expectancy for residents of northern China, according to CNN. Instead of facing the problem of pollution and risk the loss of jobs, local authorities build national parks and endorse green projects, according to Reuters.  

Mr. Zhuang says, “I think what China is really lacking is a strict enforcement of these policies and regulations. If everyone showed more concern, and put more pressure on the government and industries, polluting industries, then it will change.”

According to Bloomberg Businessweek, Jeremy Rifkin, president of the Foundation on Economic Trends and best-selling author of The Third Industrial Revolution, thinks China can lead the third industrial revolution if they stop using fossil fuels and concentrate on their renewable energies, like geothermal heat, biomass, and wind and solar power.