Environmental Pollution 189 (2014) 85e86
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Environmental Pollution journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/envpol
Commentary
Haze in China: Current and future challenges Meina Li, Lulu Zhang* The Second Military Medical University, Faculty of Health Service, Institute of Military Health Management, PLA, 800 Xiangyin Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai 200433, China
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history: Received 19 February 2014 Accepted 21 February 2014
Regional haze which triggered both public anxiety and official concerns has been one of the most disastrous weather events in China in recent years. Haze not only had negative impact on daily life, but also an indicator of high concentrations of PM2.5 with the potential to adversely impact public health by damaging people’s respiratory, cardiovascular, blood vessel of brain and nervous system. The dust-haze is an accumulated result for a long time of both natural factors and unhealthy economic growth model. In order to tackle air pollution, a number of policies and measures which target at reducing pollution emission and promoting alternative energy production had been implemented. Although significant improvement has occurred in China, change the development mode of “high growth, high pollution” and balance environmental conservation with the well-being of the population remains a challenge for China. Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Air pollution Haze Pollution abatement China
Hazardous dense haze affected most parts of northern and eastern China this winter, and regional haze which triggered both public anxiety and official concerns has been one of the most disastrous weather events in China in recent years. The Air Pollution Index in some cities even reached above 500, the maximum on the index. Fewer than 1% of the 500 largest cities in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) meet the air quality standards recommended by the World Health Organization, and 7 of these cities are ranked among the 10 most polluted cities in the world (AsianDevelopment-Bank, 2013). Haze not only had negative impact on transportation with highways closed and flights delayed or canceled, and forced primary and middle schools and kindergartens to suspend classes, but also an indicator of high concentrations of PM2.5 with the potential to adversely impact public health by damaging people’s respiratory, cardiovascular, blood vessel of brain and nervous system (Pope et al., 2002; Tie et al., 2009; Ye et al., 2011). The exposure-effect relationship between short-term exposure to air pollution and the daily mortality had been found in recent research (Lobdell et al., 2011; Meng et al., 2013; Wong et al., 2008). The dust-haze is an accumulated result for a long time of both natural factors and unhealthy economic growth model. The haze is mainly caused by coal-fired power plants, factories and vehicles. World witnessed China’s rapid develop with average
* Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (M. Li), [email protected] (L. Zhang). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2014.02.024 0269-7491/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
annual real rate of economic growth over the past 3 decades being 9.8% per annum. But this extraordinary growth has been achieved in an environmentally profligate way. With China’s rapid economy progress, power plants, factories and heavy industries were all belching out dirty air, at the cost of our health and our environment. Meanwhile, a rapid increase in private car ownership had creating a new threat in the form of vehicle emissions. When it comes into winter, coal consumption for winter heating has also been a major reason behind the widespread haze. Two state-owned oil giants were also blamed by many citizens for providing “bad quality” crude which add to the severity of haze. A number of policies and measures had been implemented to tackle air pollution in China. China has announced plans on setting up a national network to monitor the impact of air pollution on human health in the next three to five years (Anonymous, 2013). In a plan unveiled in September, 2013, the Chinese government vowed to clean up the air by cutting coal use, closing polluters and promoting cleaner production. The plan aims to cut the density of inhalable particulate matter by at least 10 percent in major cities nationwide by 2017. The government had also put huge investments in alternative energy production including wind, solar, hydro, and nuclear. Both way, there will be no easy solutions, and it is rather difficult for one or two department to tackle air pollution. It is also of cardinal significance to promote low-carbon lifestyle. For example, people should set off fireworks as little as possible in spring festival. Although significant improvement has occurred in China, change the development mode of “high growth, high
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M. Li, L. Zhang / Environmental Pollution 189 (2014) 85e86
pollution” and balance environmental conservation with the wellbeing of the population remains a challenge for China. Funding The project was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (71233008, and 71303248), and Young Scientist Foundation of The Second Military Medical University (2012QN09). References Anonymous, 2013. China to Monitor Haze’s Impact on Health. http://english.Cntv. Cn/program/china24/20131030/101387.Shtml. Asian-Development-Bank, 2013. Toward an Environmentally Sustainable Future: Country Environmental Analysis of the People’s Republic of China. http://www.
Adb.Org/publications/toward-environmentally-sustainable-future-countryenvironmental-analysis-prc. Lobdell, D.T., Isakov, V., Baxter, L., Touma, J.S., Smuts, M.B., Oezkaynak, H., 2011. Feasibility of assessing public health impacts of air pollution reduction programs on a local scale: new haven case study. Environ. Health Perspect. 119, 487e493. Meng, X., Wang, C., Cao, D., Wong, C.-M., Kan, H., 2013. Short-term effect of ambient air pollution on copd mortality in four Chinese cities. Atmos. Environ. 77, 149e 154. Pope 3rd, C.A., Burnett, R.T., Thun, M.J., Calle, E.E., Krewski, D., Ito, K., et al., 2002. Lung cancer, cardiopulmonary mortality, and long-term exposure to fine particulate air pollution. JAMA: J. Am. Med. Assoc. 287, 1132e1141. Tie, X., Wu, D., Brasseur, G., 2009. Lung cancer mortality and exposure to atmospheric aerosol particles in Guangzhou, China. Atmos. Environ. 43, 2375e2377. Wong, C.-M., Vichit-Vadakan, N., Kan, H., Qian, Z., Teams, P.P., 2008. Public health and air pollution in Asia (papa): a multicity study of short-term effects of air pollution on mortality. Environ. Health Perspect. 116, 1195e1202. Ye, X., Ma, Z., Zhang, J., Du, H., Chen, J., Chen, H., et al., 2011. Important role of ammonia on haze formation in shanghai. Environ. Res. Lett. 6.
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Environmental Pollution journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/envpol
Commentary
Haze in China: Current and future challenges Meina Li, Lulu Zhang* The Second Military Medical University, Faculty of Health Service, Institute of Military Health Management, PLA, 800 Xiangyin Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai 200433, China
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history: Received 19 February 2014 Accepted 21 February 2014
Regional haze which triggered both public anxiety and official concerns has been one of the most disastrous weather events in China in recent years. Haze not only had negative impact on daily life, but also an indicator of high concentrations of PM2.5 with the potential to adversely impact public health by damaging people’s respiratory, cardiovascular, blood vessel of brain and nervous system. The dust-haze is an accumulated result for a long time of both natural factors and unhealthy economic growth model. In order to tackle air pollution, a number of policies and measures which target at reducing pollution emission and promoting alternative energy production had been implemented. Although significant improvement has occurred in China, change the development mode of “high growth, high pollution” and balance environmental conservation with the well-being of the population remains a challenge for China. Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Air pollution Haze Pollution abatement China
Hazardous dense haze affected most parts of northern and eastern China this winter, and regional haze which triggered both public anxiety and official concerns has been one of the most disastrous weather events in China in recent years. The Air Pollution Index in some cities even reached above 500, the maximum on the index. Fewer than 1% of the 500 largest cities in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) meet the air quality standards recommended by the World Health Organization, and 7 of these cities are ranked among the 10 most polluted cities in the world (AsianDevelopment-Bank, 2013). Haze not only had negative impact on transportation with highways closed and flights delayed or canceled, and forced primary and middle schools and kindergartens to suspend classes, but also an indicator of high concentrations of PM2.5 with the potential to adversely impact public health by damaging people’s respiratory, cardiovascular, blood vessel of brain and nervous system (Pope et al., 2002; Tie et al., 2009; Ye et al., 2011). The exposure-effect relationship between short-term exposure to air pollution and the daily mortality had been found in recent research (Lobdell et al., 2011; Meng et al., 2013; Wong et al., 2008). The dust-haze is an accumulated result for a long time of both natural factors and unhealthy economic growth model. The haze is mainly caused by coal-fired power plants, factories and vehicles. World witnessed China’s rapid develop with average
* Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (M. Li), [email protected] (L. Zhang). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2014.02.024 0269-7491/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
annual real rate of economic growth over the past 3 decades being 9.8% per annum. But this extraordinary growth has been achieved in an environmentally profligate way. With China’s rapid economy progress, power plants, factories and heavy industries were all belching out dirty air, at the cost of our health and our environment. Meanwhile, a rapid increase in private car ownership had creating a new threat in the form of vehicle emissions. When it comes into winter, coal consumption for winter heating has also been a major reason behind the widespread haze. Two state-owned oil giants were also blamed by many citizens for providing “bad quality” crude which add to the severity of haze. A number of policies and measures had been implemented to tackle air pollution in China. China has announced plans on setting up a national network to monitor the impact of air pollution on human health in the next three to five years (Anonymous, 2013). In a plan unveiled in September, 2013, the Chinese government vowed to clean up the air by cutting coal use, closing polluters and promoting cleaner production. The plan aims to cut the density of inhalable particulate matter by at least 10 percent in major cities nationwide by 2017. The government had also put huge investments in alternative energy production including wind, solar, hydro, and nuclear. Both way, there will be no easy solutions, and it is rather difficult for one or two department to tackle air pollution. It is also of cardinal significance to promote low-carbon lifestyle. For example, people should set off fireworks as little as possible in spring festival. Although significant improvement has occurred in China, change the development mode of “high growth, high
86
M. Li, L. Zhang / Environmental Pollution 189 (2014) 85e86
pollution” and balance environmental conservation with the wellbeing of the population remains a challenge for China. Funding The project was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (71233008, and 71303248), and Young Scientist Foundation of The Second Military Medical University (2012QN09). References Anonymous, 2013. China to Monitor Haze’s Impact on Health. http://english.Cntv. Cn/program/china24/20131030/101387.Shtml. Asian-Development-Bank, 2013. Toward an Environmentally Sustainable Future: Country Environmental Analysis of the People’s Republic of China. http://www.
Adb.Org/publications/toward-environmentally-sustainable-future-countryenvironmental-analysis-prc. Lobdell, D.T., Isakov, V., Baxter, L., Touma, J.S., Smuts, M.B., Oezkaynak, H., 2011. Feasibility of assessing public health impacts of air pollution reduction programs on a local scale: new haven case study. Environ. Health Perspect. 119, 487e493. Meng, X., Wang, C., Cao, D., Wong, C.-M., Kan, H., 2013. Short-term effect of ambient air pollution on copd mortality in four Chinese cities. Atmos. Environ. 77, 149e 154. Pope 3rd, C.A., Burnett, R.T., Thun, M.J., Calle, E.E., Krewski, D., Ito, K., et al., 2002. Lung cancer, cardiopulmonary mortality, and long-term exposure to fine particulate air pollution. JAMA: J. Am. Med. Assoc. 287, 1132e1141. Tie, X., Wu, D., Brasseur, G., 2009. Lung cancer mortality and exposure to atmospheric aerosol particles in Guangzhou, China. Atmos. Environ. 43, 2375e2377. Wong, C.-M., Vichit-Vadakan, N., Kan, H., Qian, Z., Teams, P.P., 2008. Public health and air pollution in Asia (papa): a multicity study of short-term effects of air pollution on mortality. Environ. Health Perspect. 116, 1195e1202. Ye, X., Ma, Z., Zhang, J., Du, H., Chen, J., Chen, H., et al., 2011. Important role of ammonia on haze formation in shanghai. Environ. Res. Lett. 6.
