The Cause and Solution for Air Pollution Problem in Beijing
Other than the historical attractions in Beijing, the air pollution in Beijing has also been very famous, more specifically, the smog. Although the air pollution problem has been getting much better in recent years, the problem is still not close to fully solved. The consequence of the air pollution has been continuously affecting the city and the residents that live in it.
When talking about air pollution, it is always most important to know first, what caused it? There are numbers of important factors: “an enormous economic boom, a surge in the number of motorized vehicles, population growth, output from manufacturing, and natural reasons which include the city’s surrounding topography and seasonal weather” (Ye). Although there are numerous factors for the air pollution, they are in fact all interconnected. Out of all the factors, China’s enormous economic boom is undoubtedly the most important source.
China has been and is still experiencing huge economic growth, accordingly, this increase in wealth is directly correlated with the air pollution. China has been the world’s largest production and export country for a long time, which is an important reason for China’s booming economy. Therefore, China has always been referred to as the “world factory.” 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, more specifically the “coal burning factories” have always been an important source for the air pollution in Beijing (Ye). The increase in wealth also means that “individuals are more capable of affording motor vehicles.” Within a few years, “the number of motor vehicles on Beijing roads has doubled to 3.3 million with nearly 1200 added each day” (Ye). This drastic increase in motor vehicles also became the most important source of the air pollution in Beijing. Emissions from motorized vehicles, more specifically the four most dangerous pollutants, “sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and particulate matter (e.g. PM10)” contribute to nearly 70% of the city’s pollution (Ye).
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 mountains surrounding the city, which make Beijing “a victim of its own topography” (Ye). This type of topography is really hard for wind to exchange, therefore ensuring the pollution remains trapped within the city limits. The air quality even gets worse in spring and summer due to the high temperature and humidity level. Last but not least, humans themselves are also a natural source of pollution. As everyone knows, China is the most populous country in the world and Beijing as the capital of China is also one of the most populous cities in the world with 22 million permanent residents. Furthermore, Beijing’s population has swelled from 11 million to 16 million in just 7 years, and has doubled over the past century. It is clear that there are numerous reasons that lead to the serious air pollution and the according consequences in Beijing. Along with health consequences, the smog also leads to low visibility problems (Ye).
With the serious consequences brought by the air pollution, it is important to think about solutions for it. The Chinese government has spent huge time and effort on solving the air pollution problem in Beijing in the past years. As I mentioned above, the first and most apparent method they used is to move most of the factories in the outskirts of Beijing to other nearby cities and provinces, and further put restrictions on the emissions of the remaining factories (Liang). With the factories moving out in recent years, the government also started the new “green area” project in Beijing. The greening started on the original spaces of the factories, outskirts of Beijing and further expanded into the cities (Ye, Liang). However, in order to change the overall inner-environment of Beijing, the government has also focused on solving the biggest “culprit” of air pollution, the motor-vehicle. All the way back to 2008, the year of the “Beijing Olympics”, Beijing started the “car number traveling restriction” policy (Ma). This policy put restrictions on the usage of private cars. Based on the last number of your number plate, there is one day of the weekdays that you cannot travel, and all cars can travel on the weekends. Furthermore, in 2011, Beijing started a new “car purchase sortition” policy, which restricts personal car purchase by the method of sortition (Xue). If you don’t have a car, you have to go through this random process in order to have the chance of getting a car. If you already have a car and car number, you can change your number when you buy a new car, but you cannot go through the sortition process anymore. This policy restricts and ensures one person can only have one car and car number. These two restriction policies drastically reduced the usage of private cars, and at the same time encouraged much more usage of public transportations.
I really see the huge improvement of Beijing’s air quality and the overall environment in recent years. The most apparent and noticeable change is how many days of blue-sky we get in a month. Before I came back to the U.S. in 2014, I remember in 2012 and 2013, if there was a week in total of blue-sky in a whole month, it would be pretty lucky. But in recent years, when I went back to Beijing during vacations, the days of blue-sky got more and more. Now, the situation is almost vice versa, that there is usually only a week of non-blue-sky days in a month. I am really happy because it really shows that the policies work out really well and the government has really done a good job on solving the air pollution problems. Most importantly, it reduces the consequences from the air pollution to the city and the people. Finally, although the air pollution problem has been getting better and better, there is still a long distance for Beijing to get into the perfect air quality range (Secretariat). It still needs everyone’s work for further improvements.
Citations:
Ye, Mason F. “Causes and Consequences of Air Pollution in Beijing, China.” Environmental ScienceBites, Environmental ScienceBites, The Ohio State University, 2015, ohiostate.pressbooks.pub/sciencebites/chapter/causes-and-consequences-of-air-pollution-in-beijing-china/.
Secretariat, CCAC. “Beijing’s Air Quality Improvements Are a Model for Other Cities.” Climate & Clean Air Coalition, Climate & Clean Air Coalition, 09 Mar. 2019, www.ccacoalition.org/en/news/beijing%E2%80%99s-air-quality-improvements-are-model-other-cities.
Jie, Liang. “北京大气环境质量现状及其解决办法.” 百度文库, 百度文库, 11 Dec. 2014, wenku.baidu.com/view/7b6fc2252e3f5727a5e962c6.html.
Bing, Ma. “请问北京限号是从什么时候开始的.” 百度知道, 百度知道, 19 Apr. 2014, zhidao.baidu.com/question/1958148449845852820.html.
Ren, Xue. “北京汽车摇号开始于什么时候？.” 百度知道, 百度知道, 31 Oct. 2019, zhidao.baidu.com/question/626387832331638844.html.
