NASA Data Reveals China's Industrial Air Pollution

eldavojohn writes "China's skyrocketing industrialism comes at a price to the environment, according to Canadian scientists who used NASA data to publish a report on worldwide air pollution (PDF) in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. The biggest problem appears to be a bright red mass in Northeastern China around the Yangtze River Delta — a rapidly developing piece of China's explosive economy. There doesn't seem to be a lot of acknowledgment from the state media, but blogs are picking it up as one of the few sources of data on air pollution for the area. The sad fact is that particulate matter in the air less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter is not classified as pollution by the Chinese government, so they have no official measurements to provide. If you're in Shanghai and looking for a breath of fresh air, you've got quite the journey ahead of you."

Comments

Shanghai's Air Quality

[Rand310]

Official government website for the air quality in Shanghai. Decent records, and public.
http://www.envir.gov.cn/Eng/Airep/index.asp

Re:Shanghai's Air Quality

[jpapon]

Did you RTFA?

They're talking about PM2.5 - the really small particles, which apparently China doesn't classify as pollution (they're not listed on that site).

Apparently the really fine particles can be the worst for you, since your body has a hard time filtering them out.

Re:Shanghai's Air Quality

[jpapon]

And on a side note, how come Slashdot submitters link to a summary, and not the Original NASA source?

Re:Shanghai's Air Quality

[DigiShaman]

My first time to visit Shanghai was back in 2004. My flight approached Pudong Airport (PVG) from the north (came from Chicago), I could see what looked like hundreds of spires sticking out of the clouds in the clear blue sky. It was so beautiful... ...until we landed that is. The sky quickly turned orange/brown as we descended through the clouds and landed. The moment I walked outside the airport, but lungs felt itchy. What little did I know about those "clouds". Nasty!

Re:Shanghai's Air Quality

[theshowmecanuck]

they're not listed on that site

I think that might be the point the poster is making.

Re:Shanghai's Air Quality

[MaWeiTao]

It could have been dust storms. Eastern China suffers some pretty bad dust storms from sand blown out of the Gobi desert and it gets as far as Japan sometimes.

Race to the Bottom

[El Torico]

This is more evidence supporting the "Race to the Bottom" argument. China isn't known for environmental protections.
By the way, on the diagram, the northwestern region showing elevated levels is the Gobi desert, but that isn't where the highest levels are.

Re:Race to the Bottom

[mister_playboy]

If you look at the map, you'll see that the presence of heavy particulate pollution is highly correlated with desert areas.

Much of this type of pollution isn't necessarily man-made.

Re:Race to the Bottom

[jpapon]

the presence of heavy particulate pollution is highly correlated with desert areas

Somewhat, yes, but the North and South American deserts don't seem to have the same issue. Unfortunately data for Western and Southern Australia isn't provided, so we can't use that for comparison.

Re:Race to the Bottom

[Penguinisto]

Depends on local conditions, and at which time of year... US deserts aren't as well-known for having big dust storms (and not much sand), so it's pretty easy to see why the particulate counts are going to be low there. Same with the Altiplano (South America), where the desert floor is mostly hardpan or literal hard rock. You can't blow around what's (in many cases) literally cemented to the floor.

Re:Race to the Bottom

[timeOday]

This is more evidence supporting the "Race to the Bottom" argument. China isn't known for environmental protections.

Another interpretation is that China is a bastion of freedom for free enterprise. Isn't this what people want, for Big Government to stay out of the way and not hamper job creation, and not force people to do stuff like using catalytic converters and CFL lightbulbs? When people use those words, we must be cognizant of what they are advocating (if unwittingly).

Re:Race to the Bottom

[njen]

I live in Korea, and here we call it China's yellow wind. On the days when the wind blows from the west, there is an obvious yellow tint to the sky. There are also similar reports from Eastern European countries too. The funny thing with environmental disasters is that they usually do not stay localised to the country that causes them. So what China do to themselves will eventually affect us all.

Re:Race to the Bottom

[alvinrod]

If this is an argument against completely unregulated actions without any personal consequence, that's fine, but there are plenty of pro-capitalism people who realize that the environment is a shared resource and that no entity should be free to crap all over it. I feel as though you're setting up strawman argument so you can completely dismiss an entire economic model.

There's freedom to do whatever you want without consequences, and there's freedom to do whatever you want so long as you don't step on the freedom of another. There are a lot of us who fall into the later camp and I feel as though comments like this only end up antagonizing myself and people who share my beliefs. I think we both care about the environment so why can't we work together in this regard, even if we may share widely differing opinions in others?

Re:Race to the Bottom

[timeOday]

Well, that sounds good to me. If the shoe of criticism fits, wear it. But if not, don't.

Well duh....but....

[Fluffeh]

Well of course China is going to create pollution hand over fist, these are the guys in business that seem to play by their own rules when it comes to anything and everything as long as it doesn't land them into too much hot water with the rest of the world - and if it does, then it is okay as long as the money keeps pouring in. Just in the last few days they imposed sanctions on Japan to solve a completely political agenda! I have even read articles where they installed "scrubbers" on coal fired stations because it was demanded of them, but then happily ran the stations without turning them on as the specifications only demanded that they be INSTALLED.

The only thing that these guys listen to is the dollars rolling in or not rolling in. Choose what products you buy to support the types of governments that you want in power. It is the most powerful thing you can do.

Re:Well duh....but....

[interkin3tic]

these are the guys in business that seem to play by their own rules when it comes to anything and everything as long as it doesn't land them into too much hot water with the rest of the world - and if it does, then it is okay as long as the money keeps pouring in.

Hmm, sounds like the same guys we have here. Here being virtually anywhere.

Re:Well duh....but....

[gregrah]

While it doesn't exactly refute your argument, I do think that it's important to point out that China, the world's biggest polluter, is also the world's largest producer of solar panels (see Suntech). So while China's cheap labor costs and lax environmental policies are certainly helping to push the world toward the brink of destruction via global warming, they are also working toward a solution by making solar power prices more competitive with traditional forms of energy.

I do agree completely after watching the recent (and ongoing) conflict between China and Japan that the US seriously needs to take measures to be less reliant on China for.. well.. everything.

Re:Well duh....but....

[Anonymous Coward]

If you really want to know how bad pollution can get in this case, just check the former communist countries. They were the same, massive polluters with no protection for the environment or the workers, or even the towns that existed near these sites. Check cement factories, gold mines, just the name a few. They don't see the effects now, not global warming or anything else other than minor discomfort and a change in colour, but in a few years when that crap starts to build up in the soil, in underground water, and in the peoples bodies, the true effects will show. It's nothing new, others have done it before in the name of progress and well-being of the People. Let them keep it up, they'll give genetic disorders and infantile malformations a whole new meaning.

Re:Well duh....but....

[amiga3D]

Why do you think so many industries fled the US to China? In China they avoid things like the EPA and OSHA that cost businesses so much money in the US. They can dump toxic wastes in the rice paddy out back and as long as they are making money it's all good. Cheap labor is only a part of the draw.

Re:Well duh....but....

[Antisyzygy]

Its actually a lot worse than that. The Chinese have the rest of the world "by the balls" as it were. We depend upon Chinese goods to fuel our Walmart economy. No company in the US can produce products at the price the Chinese can, and this even factors in the transit cost. They do this by having a low standard of living and unsafe, usurious work conditions which is quite ironic considering the whole point of Communism is to uplift the worker. They apply the same philosophy to their acquirement of natural resources such as the rare metals you mentioned in passing (because the Chinese basically refused to sell Japan rare metals until they gave over the ship Captain). Rare metals are essential for electronics which is what the Japanese depend on for their exports. The Chinese can provide rare metals cheaper because they let their environment suffer through the creation of acid lakes, gutted out topography unsuitable for wildlife, and increased emissions; not to mention the crappy work conditions of their citizens. Paired with their low cost production of resources, they also manipulate financial markets such as the way they "peg" their currency to the US dollar and refuse to let the market treat their currency like any other. Overall, the Chinese want to get all the benefits of a capitalist market, but refuse to accept the consequences and actively throw threats around to get their way like a little spoiled child. They maneuvered themselves into a position where they can just make demands and we have to accept it otherwise our own people will suffer. Shame on our government for being so short-sighted.

What do we do about the Chinese? Do we tariff their goods? Do we refuse to trade with them? Since we are currently coming out of a recession, if we do either of the things I mentioned we only hurt the American consumer. It will only drive prices up when there is not as much money to spend for the average person. This is exactly why I say the Chinese have us by the balls. I am not sure how to fix it.

Re:In Soviet China

[interkin3tic]

No, this is American capitalist propaganda! Chinese air is the cleanest air in the world! In other countries, they have air pollution that is under 2.5 microns, wheras here in China there is none!

(Note that this would be funnier if you read the summary, and also maybe if we could safely assume no such line has been uttered by a Chinese official about this matter)

Sup with north Africa/Middle east?

[alexmipego]

How come most of the northern part of Africa and Middle East are as red as China? As far as I know those countries aren't that rich or industrialized to have more pollution than most of EUA and Europe... Could it be they're counting sand as air particle pollution agents?

This is no real surprise

[Sycraft-fu]

While many people talk about China taking a long view of things, this is not at all true of China today. In general the nation operates in a very short sighted manner. Do what is best today, never mind tomorrow. This includes things like pollution, but also more simple things like business dealings.

On a large scale this is just a result of the kind of government they have. Like most authoritarian, command and control types of governments they are good at focusing on something and making it happen, but not good at watching many issues at the same time. They are also good at ignoring problems if they don't wish them to be problems. That is what's going on here. The government is very focused on economic growth, because they want a strong China and that is what keeps them in power. So long as the economy is rapidly growing, people will overlook much else. They also don't want pollution to be a problem so it isn't, to them. They just ignore it as though it'll go away.

Of course in the long term, this is going to have to change. A system like that is sustainable for only so long. Problems have to be dealt with. It'll be interesting to see what China does, if they start to acknowledge the problems in their current setup and work to correct them, or just ignore everything until a big implosion happens.

Re:This is no real surprise

[steelfood]

My dollar is on them starting to enforce environmental controls once their economy has become self-sustaining. Their long-term strategy is to rapidly industrialize now to raise the general standard of living to be on par with or even surpass first-world countries, and figure out what to do with the nasty side effects afterwards.

As far as the government's concerned, losing a few million or a few hundred million people to those side effects is just an added population control bonus. As long as nobody's too worked up about it, they'll continue as they were. The populace is both kept ignorant of the issues by the government, and too busy making money to care. By the time the populace does get around to caring, that in and of itself is the signal for when the government won't need to push for growth and can start pushing for stronger environmental (and other types) of control.

The one thnig which makes this an actually feasible long-term plan, unlike the idea of deficit spending in the 30's, is that the Chinese government is totalitarian, which means it is actually able to turn on a dime. So while in a democracy, it might take fifty years to go from a fossil-fuel-based economy to entirely renewable-energy-based, it'll take China five, perhaps even less.

Bad calibration?

[scdeimos]

It's interesting to see that in Australia the highest concentrations of particulate matter are in the desert where nobody lives as opposed to the eastern coastline where the majority of industry is. This makes me a little suspicious of the low-end of the scale, but it could be due to airborne particulates from soil erosion.

Re:Bad calibration?

[dakameleon]

Yes, and also no. If you'd read the actual fine article over at NASA, you'll see Australia's white patches in the desert are more likely to be a lack of data rather than "off the scale". However, it does go on to state the following:

Wind, for example, lifts large amounts of mineral dust aloft in the Arabian and Saharan deserts

... which explains why Northern Africa has such a high concentration totally out of proportion to its industrial output.

Re:Particulate Map

[TopSpin]

they don't have the deserts to blame the particulate levels on

Actually they do. They created it by over grazing and farming.

http://news.discovery.com/earth/desert-dust-storm-roars-through-china-blankets-korea.html

Here's why:

[Penguinisto]

The only reason China is cranking out solar panels like there's no tomorrow? The answer is two-fold:
1) there was a HUGE and growing global market for them starting in 2007-2008 (when many of these solar companies were founded/bolstered) and
2) the Chinese government is subsidizing the unholy hell out of these companies at the same time, so as to under-cut international pricing.

Taken together, the overall plan (and reason for the subsidies) involves cornering the market on mass-produced 'green energy' goods. Notice that they're also pushing like mad to become the top wind-turbine manufacturer as well.

Long-term, its a smart strategy - when the industrialized world finds oil too pricey, guess who will be around selling them cheap and plentiful solar panels, wind turbines, etc? Meanwhile, the company owners are still making money like mad thanks to the subsidies.

Re:Here's why:

[timeOday]

It's not just solar, China has 24 nuclear power plants under construction, not to mention the world's most powerful hydroelectric power plant. So, they are embracing energy sources besides fossil fuels.

Re:Here's why:

[TapeCutter]

The three gorges dam project was threatened by silt run off from the loess plateau. Over the last 15yrs and for the paultry price of $500M they have transformed an area the size of France from a 1000yo man-made desert that was only fit for goat hearding into forests, orchards and terraced farms. The area is now one of the largest producers of apples in the world. The impact on the locals has been dramatic, they have become well fed peasant farmers who own their orchards and run their own markets as opposed to starving peasants living in caves and hearding goats on public land.

So yeah, China (and the world bank) do some increadibly evil shit but they also do some increadibly inspiring shit too.

Re:Beijing is in a permanent fog

[berashith]

maybe the problem isnt as bad as the original poster says, but your defense is damning on its own. Bragging that the blue sky has been visible most of the last 28 days also says that there are days that you cant see the sky, and that the previous summer the sky has been blocked for most days. I dont think you should be so violent in your defense of splitting hairs.

  I live in a city known for traffic and the pollution it creates, and I see blue skies on every day that it doesnt rain all day long.