Made in China:Our Toxic, Imported Air Pollution(Kirby.D)

Summary

China is making many air pollutants because of all of the highways, factories, and there very over populated nation. The air pollutants that China is producing are blowing over to the U.S. and the rest of the world. There is more than just carbon dioxide blowing through the air. The prevailing winds in the Pacific are pushing thousands of tons of other contaminants such as mercury, sulfates, ozone, black carbon, and desert dust across the oceans each year. Mercury, carbon dioxide and ozone are gases that are ripping apart the Ozone layer. Black carbon is soot that comes from hydrocarbon, which can come from diesel trucks and forest fires. Black carbon is also a gas that can affect the Ozone. Those terrifying contaminants can cause a hand full of health problems. Such as infectious diseases, cancer, emphysema, and perhaps even avian flu. China also emits more mercury than the United States, India, and Europe combined. I thought the U.S. was the bad guy!! Many of China’s cities are filled with smog because of heavy industry, metal smelters, and coal burning power plants. This is scattering tons of carbon, gas, metals and soot into the air. We also have to remember that China produces most of the goods for the U.S. and a lot of the world.

Kirby, D. (2011, April). Made in China:Our Toxic, Imported Air Pollution. Discover Magazine , pp. 1-5. Retrieved from  http://discovermagazine.com/2011/apr/18-made-in-china-our-toxic-imported-air-pollution/article_view?b_start:int=1&-C

Personal Commentary

This issue is not entirely shocking to me, because I know that China has a lot of power plants and a huge population. The pollution in China gets over to the U.S. and affects how we live. Also since China is the largest producer of goods, some of the products they make in their power plants can get into the products. When the products get shipped to the U.S., the pollutants spread on us and the people around us. One thing I didn’t know that was very interesting is that China emits more mercury than India, the United States and Europe put together. I just don’t see how that can happen, because the United Stated and India emit huge amounts of mercury by themselves. I didn’t realize that China has a larger population than the United States and India. Since the air pollution is coming over here it is affecting us, the places we live and the products we make. It sucks that other countries and places are suffering because of China. But they are not the only place that giving off tons of air pollution into the Earth’s air. The U.S, India, and Japan also emit a lot of air pollution.

What’s next?

There are many different paths China can take to resolve their air pollution problem. One step they can take is to reduce the amount of fossil fuels they use. China can use different types of alternative energy sources so they can live the same way they were without the fossil fuels. China has also tried to make different laws to slow down their population but the population is still on the rise. But by 2050 India’s population is suppose to be higher than that of China. I hope they don’t go through the same problem as China is having right now