Air Pollution in Beijing

Other than the historical attractions in Beijing, the air pollution in Beijing has also been very famous, more specifically, the smog. When talking about the air pollution, what usually comes in people’s mind first is what caused it?

According to my knowledge, there are a few things that add up to it. First of all is the most common source for pollution, automobile exhaust. As everyone knows, China is the most populous country. And Beijing as the capital of China is also one of the most populous cities in the world with 22 million permanent residents. Therefore, traffic has always been a problem in Beijing. Accordingly, this also became an important source for the air pollution in Beijing. Second source for the pollution is factory emissions. China has been the world’s number one production country for a long time. There were also many factories in Beijing. Why do I use were? It is because most factories have moved out from Beijing in recent years due to the policies. But still, factories have always been an important source for the air pollution in Beijing and perhaps the biggest source. At the same time, too many factories also means Beijing does not have enough green area.

However, is the air pollution in Beijing all artificial? Of course not! The natural resource is also an important reason for the air pollution. Beijing has topography of mountains around the city. This type of topography is really hard for wind to exchange. So it is hard for Beijing’s inner environment to have significant change and for the air to have a smooth exchange. Lastly, as mentioned above, humans are also a natural source of pollution. With such a huge human population in the city, combined with all the problems I have mentioned above, the pollution can be even worse. Although the air pollution has been getting better and better in recent years, there’s still a long way to go.