http://www.treehugger.com/fossil-fuels/air-quality-beijing-so-bad-its-literally-charts.html
Air pollution in Beijing, the capital of China, has reached record levels of horrible- going back and forth between 'very unhealthy' and 'hazardous'. It has also reached a new level on the index called "beyond index". Planes could not take off because of the low visibility, and the levels of pollution climbed up to 522 micrograms of particulate pollutants per cubic meter of air. That could give a person who doesn't have asthsma an asthsma related death. Millions of Chinese people who live and work in Beijing have to walk through all that nasty stuff every day. Chinese citizens are starting to protest against the air quality to get the government to fix the problem.
This is so disgusting. I can't even believe people choose to live there, and I wonder what the death rate from lung infections is. I also wonder how the Olympics were there as most athletes need to breathe while they compete? I would hate to breathe that stuff in. I always feel sick after spending the day in Center City in Philly and it isn't even that bad there compared to Beijing. The government should do something to protect its citizens. I won't be planning a trip to China anytime soon.
Questions
1- Why do you think the Chinese government is not fixing this problem?
2- What caused the smog in the area to get so bad in the first place?
3- If you were a citizen of Beijing, what would you do to stand up against the dirty air?
4- If you were a Chinese government official, what would you do to fix the problem?
5- Do you think this problem will be fixed in the near future? Why or why not?
Liv is right. Thats just horrible. I can't believe it's even possible to pollute the air that much. I guess when u have enough people in one place anything is possible. but it really is pretty scary. I mean really? It shouldn't be possible to give someone without asthma an asthma related death. I know i'm saying " that shouldn't be possible" and " I can't believe" a lot, but thats just my reaction to this. Wow. Thats all I have to say. just Wow. ANd to think that the Chinese government is not doing anything to fix this is even more appalling. I mean come on. Problems don't really get much more obvious than this one. Here is a link to another article relating to bejing's air quality: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB30001424052970204336104577094071514669022.html
ReplyDeleteI am amazed that this is happening in one of the most powerful cities in the world. This is just horrible and I just can't believe that we have let this happen. Further more I am even more suprised that I personally had not even a clue that this was going on. I am apalled that the government of China is not doing anything despite that thier capital city looks like a nuclear warzone. They're almost just leaving their people out to die. I just hope that I'm overeacting and that there is hopefully a recovery act underway. This is just another example of what we are doing to our home. I can't even imagine what it would be like to live in those conditions, and hopefully we here in hatboro/horsham will never have to.
ReplyDeleteQuestion 3: Ugh, Yes, I really don't know what else to say. I don't understand how anyone in the right mind wouldn't. I am also very suprised that the outrage in Beijing over this issue is not alot worse than it is.
I'm so surprised that people actually put up with that kind of pollution over in China! I know that the United States isn't the most green place, but if New York City's air pollution was that bad, there would be a huge uproar of complaints and the officials would have to do something about it. I am surprised, though, that America hasn't done anything to help out this city. We owe China so much money that I'm pressed to believe that this would count somewhat as a form of repayment. It's not like we would really hurt our own country if we tried to help them.
ReplyDeleteQuestion #3: I would definitely try and speak out. Who knows exactly what you're putting into your body by breathing in that air. No one deserves to have their life span shortened just because their government isn't doing anything to help them!