Linda Gao
Professor Schweitzer
Writing Studio, Friday 1:30 pm
November 29, 2018
Air Pollution Public Service in China
The rapid growth of urbanization and industrialization China causes the increase in energy consumption. This has resulted in an increase of urban air pollution over the decades when black smoke has become a characteristic of some industrial cities in China (Murdock 2017 p.210). Air pollution has caused serious acid rain effects and increased deterioration from typical industrial pollution. The development of cities and the health of citizens has been a major concern due to urban air pollution. A variety of programs have been put in place by the Chinese government to protect the atmospheric environment and control air pollution. This research describes the characteristics of the current status of air quality in China and the main challenges that result from air pollution, and suggests some possible future strategies when it comes to urban air quality improvement.
Since the 1980s, the effects of environmental pollution have been widely studied and a closer examination of the health crisis conducted. Early studies concentrated on potential food safety effects, water pollution and the risk of diseases due to industrial chemicals. Some decades ago, environmental degradation was not as obvious, but the health effects and other shortcomings of air pollution have become a global concern in recent times. Public health effects caused by environmental pollution have for long been considered at the economic level, but have later been modified by pioneers to incorporate views in lifestyle, healthcare and the environment. The probability of exposure in the past determines the impact of air pollution from which an increase in the concentration of air pollutants causes equal health harms.
Numerous studies have proven statistically significant relationships between respiratory health outcomes, cardiovascular, cardiopulmonary and mortality rates with respect to the level of pollutants such as ozone in ambient air and particulate matter. This has thus formed the main body of evidence between such relations and the impact of air pollution on public health. The economic cost of environmental pollution in China has also been quantified by an evaluation of the environmental health impacts (Vasudevan and Shaffi 2016, p.46). The difficulties in assigning values to environmental aspects such as landscape degradation, biodiversity and lost lives, which fall under the non-market category has resulted in difficulties and complications when estimating the cost of pollution. However, research has focused on the broader effects of environmental pollution to enable a quantitative assessment of health impacts through the identification and application of exposure-response relationships. A questionable component of these results still remains to their reliability. Accuracy in estimations is paramount due to the exposure-response relationship.
The health effects of environmental pollution in China has thus been estimated based on an econometric model which essentially can help avoid the potential inaccuracies of exposure-response by closing examining the causal relationships. The health consequences under the Huai River Policy, for example, have been used in recent studies to examine the effects of air pollution and sustainability. Murdock (2017) found out that between 1980 and 2007, the effects on human health and pollution had dramatically been impacted by the Chinese space-heating policy thereby reducing the concentrations of total suspended particulates in a number of cities. The 1990s resulted in over 2.6 billion deaths in Northern China which was 55% higher due to the particulate concentrations north of the Huai River with a residency population of 550 million people. A later study by Wong, et al. (2010) found a decrease of life expectancy just north of the river by 3 years compared to the rest of the country. Such studies were conducted using longitudinal survey data on subjective well-being and public mental status.
Chinese Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study was the main source of data for this research. The entity conducts periodic surveys on adults and that are representative nationally. The corresponding websites provide adequate data on the subject after registration. An inclusive assessment is important from all Chinese participants in developing a comprehensive health metric including mental function, physical impairments, cognitive functions, balance and grip strength among other respondent daily routines. The information is collected through health status questionnaires from which analytical models can foster differentiated strategies.
The expectation is that there are diverse results based on health scores in relation to air quality in a given region, income levels, life satisfaction, education levels and even age. Men generally have better health status, those with greater life satisfaction and education, high salaries and married respondents. Correlation analysis also indicates differences between the impacts of air pollution by region. Positive correlation with health scores results during winter and autumn with the longest duration of good air quality. The extent of the winter and autumn conditions generally improve the quality of air and thus result in higher health scores and more so for those who are employed with above middle-school education. Shangrao has the lowest scores in the country while Xilinguole Meng achieved the highest health scores among the participants.
The effects of air pollution and the impact on public health are examined based on databases of individual health survey information. The evaluation of such information allows for the multiple dimensions characterization of local China air pollution. Regional disparities exist between health assessment results without clear variation features. Better climatic conditions and medical resources were recorded in the eastern areas while a positive health score correlation with air pollution is evident in Western and Central China. The relative increase in sensitivity in these regions may be attributed to the lack of proper medical resources to cater for its population health. The outcomes confirm that indeed public health is greatly impacted upon by air pollution and especially for Central China. Good quality of air is a crucial consideration for promoting healthy lives and more so, public health can be improved by lengthening the duration of fairly good air quality. Decreasing and controlling the duration of heavy air pollution has been the management approach by previous Chinese policies but future policy prospects also need to consider the duration of good air quality.
The discussion is, therefore, seeking to build a comprehensive evaluation of health outcomes that will represent key mental health elements and disease status thereby reflecting both health aspects. This accurate assessment has resulted in significant policy and outcome changes in recent times through government incentives to improve individual life satisfaction among the people of China and all health status aspects. Numerous factors coupled by socioeconomic development, medical resources, exercising and hereditary factors make health a complex issue. Environmental policies should therefore be developed in conjunction with health policies to increase the availability of economic and medical resources during urban development planning in China. Public health would also be greatly benefited by policies that seek to improve life satisfaction among the Chinese through the reduction of air pollution impacts. A cross-sectional database analysis was more suited for the evaluation due to limitations on data availability for all regions. Future studies should consider the analysis of recent databases to verify sources of findings. This will allow cumulative data analysis and reduce the air pollution time lag effects due to delayed model implementation.
The health effects and environmental impact of air pollution has been well documented. The study uses a national survey to build a comprehensive measure of health depicting policy targets that will improve public health and increase the duration of good air quality by controlling severe cases of air pollution.
Works Cited
Murdock, Graham. "Conclusion: One Month in the Life of the Planet—Carbon Capitalism and the Struggle for the Commons." Carbon Capitalism and Communication. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2017. 207-219.
Vasudevan, S., and F. M. Shaffi. "The Role of Mass Campaigns in Public Health." Kerala Medical Journal 9.2 (2016): 45-47.
Wong, C. M., et al. "Part 5. Public health and air pollution in Asia (PAPA): a combined analysis of four studies of air pollution and mortality." Research report (Health Effects Institute) 154 (2010): 377-418.