The Importance Of Air Pollution In China

Air Pollution in China

Air pollution is an increasing concern throughout the world. With escalating populations comes the massive growth of air pollution, which is detrimental to a person’s health, especially on the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Countless countries and cities have been plagued with toxic air and shockingly twelve of the twenty majorly polluted cities throughout the world are located in China (Zhend & Kahn, 2013, p. 732). China’s air pollution is constantly increasing and harming the Chinese population. One population that is increasingly affected by the contaminated air are the children in China. Childhood, in particular, is a difficult time when it comes to exposure to polluted air as this irritates the lungs causing

The countless health problems, costs, and mortality that occurs with air pollution are a growing concern globally and especially for the children of China.

The Global Effect Air pollution is a global problem as it affects the whole world, yet some countries must take more actions to fight for their health. In countries such as China, it is common to see citizens where face masks when outside to help filter the air they breathe. Unfortunately, China is foreshadowing to the rest of the world what the reality could be in years to come if no actions are initiated. Although China is the main concern, the air pollution throughout the world is also detrimental as “98% of cities in low- and middle-income countries with more than 100,000 inhabitants do not meet WHO air quality guidelines. However, in high-income countries, that percentage decreases to 56%” (“Air pollution,” 2016, para. 2). The reason that air pollution is extremely harmful is that of its increased risk of lung cancer, heart disease, stroke, and chronic and acute respiratory diseases, including

4). This is about 5.5 million out of the 7 million people who died in 2012 due to air pollution, which means over half of the people dying are South East Asia inhabitants. Through the 2.6 million deaths from outdoor pollution, about 40% of those deaths were from ischemic heart disease and another 40% from strokes. 11% from COPD and then 6% from lung cancer and 3% were from acute lower respiratory infections in children. (“7 million,” 2014, para. 7). Air pollution is mainly common in developing countries from the extensive amount of industrialization and urbanization that is taking place. Poorer countries and communities cannot afford the ability to protect themselves, which is why there is so much suffering in these communities. In China alone, life expectancies are about 5.5 years lower than the United States because of the cardiovascular and respiratory mortality (Chen, Eventstin, Greenstone, & Li, 2013, para. 1). Air pollution is absolutely contributing to the reason why China’s life expectancy is so much lower. This is a problem for the Chinese citizens and the Chinese government. The cost of pollution is large as it is approaching “10 percent of gross domestic product per years over the last decade” which is several times higher than other