Air pollution killing 4,000 in China a day, US study finds

[webfact]

Air pollution killing 4,000 in China a day, US study finds
By SETH BORENSTEIN

WASHINGTON (AP) — Air pollution is killing about 4,000 people in China a day, accounting for 1 in 6 premature deaths in the world's most populous country, a new study finds.

Physicists at the University of California, Berkeley, calculated that about 1.6 million people in China die each year from heart, lung and stroke problems because of incredibly polluted air, especially small particles of haze. Earlier studies put the annual Chinese air pollution death toll at 1 to 2 million, but this is the first to use newly released Chinese air monitoring figures.

The study released Thursday blamed emissions from the burning of coal, both for electricity and heating homes. The study, to be published in the journal PLOS One, uses real air measurements and then computer model calculations that estimate heart, lung and stroke deaths for different types of pollutants.

Study lead author Robert Rohde said that 38 percent of the Chinese population lives in an area with a long-term air quality average that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calls "unhealthy."

"It's a very big number," Rohde said Thursday. "It's a little hard to wrap your mind around the numbers. Some of the worst in China is to the southwest of Beijing."

To put Chinese air pollution in perspective, the most recent American Lung Association data shows that Madera, California, has the highest annual average for small particles in the United States. But 99.9 percent of the eastern half of China has a higher annual average for small particle haze than Madera, Rohde said.

"In other words, nearly everyone in China experiences air that is worse for particulates than the worst air in the U.S.," Rohde said.

In a 2010 document, the EPA estimates that between 63,000 and 88,000 people die in the U.S. from air pollution. Other estimates range from 35,000 to 200,000.

Unlike the U.S., air pollution in China is worst in the winter because of burning of coal to heat homes and weather conditions that keeps dirty air closer to the ground, Rohde said. Beijing will host the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Outside scientists praised the research. Jason West at the University of North Carolina said he expects "it will be widely influential."

Allen Robinson at Carnegie Mellon University said in an email that parts of the United States, like Pittsburgh, used to have almost as bad air but have become much cleaner "through tough regulations combined with large collapse of heavy industry (it moved to Asia)."

As China starts to clean up its air, limiting coal use, it will also reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, the chief global warming gas, Rohde said.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-08-14

[Scott]

A troll post has been removed.

[Publicus]

This is a photo taken of the (restricted access) Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium in Beijing September 7, 2009 under the sunshine of lunchtime.

The entire eastern half of China is the Black Lung of the biosphere.

In November each year the CCP turns on the coal fired heating systems of its cities (a number of cities have no heating systems) and a stinky black smoke fills the air and the sky for the whole of the winter. In even a more modern high tech city such as Dalian in the northeast which is cleaner, the foul black smoke from the close in urban sprawl surrounding Dalian engulfs the city.

Several years ago the CCP Boyz in Beijing changed the rule against public demonstrations to allow protests against pollution, due to so many people in so many places showing up to demand clean air, water, soil. The objections of the people are so widespread, common, so great, the CCP does not want to risk confrontation over it. These kinds of protests and confrontations are btw expanding invariably to many other issues.

[Nowisee]

It's time we end the burning of coal for power plants and convert to nat gas, solar and wind.

Edited August 14, 2015 by Nowisee

[FangFerang]

To add fuel to the fire, in a punishing way, the Chinese had developed a safe, pebble reactor using nuclear fuel that had a 0% chance of meltdown, and the oil guzzling West convinced them to stop development.

This is hypocrisy at its worst.

Even more hilariously, there is no single reason that solar power is so expensive to create ...except one: not one industrialized country could cope with a large solar grid. Not a single one. Oil drives the economies, the stock markets, the wars, and the political power.

Every barrel of oil fuels the fires of ISIS, IL (or whatever they are calling themselves this week). Every barrel of oil greases the wheels of the NATO war machine. Every barrel of oil is....frakking dangerous.

This is hypocrisy at its worst.

[empireboy]

There is no need for this in today's world!

[Nowisee]

Frakking dangerous! That made me laugh.

I don't agree (and I have nothing to substantiate my opinion) that oil drives all that you wrote. It moves the stock market and it impacts the economy when it goes up or down.

Or the "oil guzzling" part of the west has anything to do with China's 4th generation reactor concept (assuming this is what you mean by pebble reactor) and everything I've read about it indicates its test ones are up and running and will start generating power in 2017.

Their (the wests) fears are about the technology being exported to other countries...again, nothing to do with oil guzzling. In fact, many coal fired plant are being taken off line and and or converted to nat gas.

Anyway, I don't want to hi-jack the thread... I digress.

I agree there is no conceivable reason why we cannot use wind and solar in most areas.. and nat gas is a decent alternative to coal.

Trivia question. Who is the largest consumer of oil? And what is it used for? I think I know the answer to this...

[impulse]

To add fuel to the fire, in a punishing way, the Chinese had developed a safe, pebble reactor using nuclear fuel that had a 0% chance of meltdown, and the oil guzzling West convinced them to stop development.

This is hypocrisy at its worst.

Nobody convinces China to do anything they don't want to do. If they gave up a promising technology, they did it for their own reasons. Perhaps the possibility that the technology wasn't so promising?

[craigt3365]

To add fuel to the fire, in a punishing way, the Chinese had developed a safe, pebble reactor using nuclear fuel that had a 0% chance of meltdown, and the oil guzzling West convinced them to stop development.

This is hypocrisy at its worst.

Even more hilariously, there is no single reason that solar power is so expensive to create ...except one: not one industrialized country could cope with a large solar grid. Not a single one. Oil drives the economies, the stock markets, the wars, and the political power.

Every barrel of oil fuels the fires of ISIS, IL (or whatever they are calling themselves this week). Every barrel of oil greases the wheels of the NATO war machine. Every barrel of oil is....frakking dangerous.

This is hypocrisy at its worst.

I think your research is a bit off. China is in the forefront of solar power development. Especially with regards to cost reductions. They have to as the article states, air pollution is costing them big time.

Pollution in China is a huge problem. And not just air pollution.

The pic I took just outside Hangzhou. You could barely see across the lake. This was in 2007.

[elgordo38]

Several years ago the CCP Boyz in Beijing changed the rule against public demonstrations to allow protests against pollution, due to so many people in so many places showing up to demand clean air, water, soil. The objections of the people are so widespread, common, so great, the CCP does not want to risk confrontation over it. These kinds of protests and confrontations are btw expanding invariably to many other issues.

And these clowns are the people the west wants to do business with at any cost. What are we just plain stupid no we are the servants to the masters of big business. Their wishes is all that matters today and they have found a willing ally in China. People are expendable profit is not.

[Publicus]

Several years ago the CCP Boyz in Beijing changed the rule against public demonstrations to allow protests against pollution, due to so many people in so many places showing up to demand clean air, water, soil. The objections of the people are so widespread, common, so great, the CCP does not want to risk confrontation over it. These kinds of protests and confrontations are btw expanding invariably to many other issues.

And these clowns are the people the west wants to do business with at any cost. What are we just plain stupid no we are the servants to the masters of big business. Their wishes is all that matters today and they have found a willing ally in China. People are expendable profit is not.

There are always technical issues at shopworn web sites, however, kindly make clear the first paragraph of the post is written by me and that your post fails to indicate you are quoting me from a post I had made.

The second paragraph is your post and comment.