Photo courtesy of Kentaro IEMOTO via Wikipedia Commons.
Twenty-one percent of all disease in China have been traced back to pollution or poor air quality.
By Alara Mirza ’27
Staff Writer
China’s lagging initiative to mitigate fossil fuel emissions has resulted in a thick, grayish haze encumbering Northern China in the past week, Reuters reported. The haze has severely restricted activity and set off the government’s highest pollution alerts.
With visibility dropping to less than 50 meters — 164 feet — at times, the Chinese government was forced to impose safety measures, including limiting the number of vehicles on the road by designating specific days for driving depending on the last number of license plates, Phys.org said. According to Channel News Asia, since Tuesday, Oct. 31, over 100 million people have been experiencing disruptions in their day-to-day activities, including those within the wider Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area.
A Phys.org article explained that the concentration of PM 2.5 — fine particulate matter of 2.5 microns or less in size — is twenty times greater than the World Health Organization’s recommended guideline, according to air quality monitoring firm IQAir.
In China CDC Weekly, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cited the presence of such extreme and excessive particulate matter as a health hazard, noting its role in contributing to premature death in those with existing heart or lung diseases. Condensed pollution also impairs the health of forestry and agriculture, impairing roots and leaves and ultimately diminishing crop yields, Clarity reported.
Reuters notes that China “declared war” on pollution in a 2014 parliament meeting. Nine years later, though, according to Al Jazeera, emissions have grown to be greater than that of the United States, India and the European Union combined. In total, this number accounts for over 30% of global emissions.
China still has a long way to go to pull as much weight as other nations, the Al Jazeera article continued. Environmental nonprofit Greenpeace stressed that many of China’s actions are pushing them in the wrong direction, citing examples such as the government-approved major increase in coal power that took place in early 2023.
In an interview with Mount Holyoke News, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences Jason Andras said that, “At the broadest level, it would take the political will of the government” to effectively and successfully reduce fossil fuel usage.
Andras emphasized three simple yet consequential steps to do so: “Identifying a problem, implementing policy and seeing an improvement,” citing acid rain as an example where “the problem improved relatively quickly.”
According to Phys.org, Beijing is attributing the recent pollution crisis to unusual weather conditions, such as unseasonably high temperatures. This explanation neglects the role of fossil fuel emissions. Within the context of the global economy and the prominence of pollution in China, the question remains of whether the monetary benefit of the manufacturing industry outweighs its toll on citizens, who experience the aftereffects most directly.
Andras shed some light on the topic. “Cost-benefit analysis suggests that it's far more beneficial in the long run to regulate pollution in the short run rather than endure the long-term effects,” he said.
Already, China is burdened by the long-term effects. BMC Public Health cites data from the WHO, which says that 21% of diseases in the country trace back to substandard air quality and pollution, contributing to 2 million deaths.
For this bout of smog, scientists estimate the haze will last until mid-November. Until pollution in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei is at an acceptable level, emissions will remain high. This is dependent on the government making choices that favor the environment over economic prosperity. For pollution to subside in the future, “there has to be a will to pay those costs,” Andras stated.